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Applied Ethical Theory Essay
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Added on 2020-05-16
Applied Ethical Theory Essay
Added on 2020-05-16
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Running head: APPLIED ETHICAL THEORY ESSAYApplied Ethical Theory EssayName of the Student:Name of the University:Author Note:
APPLIED ETHICAL THEORY ESSAY1Ethics can be defined as the moral values or principles, which govern the behavior orthe actions of a particular person or individual (Shafer-Landau, 2012). There are varioustheories related to ethics, which try to rationalize the various human actions or behaviors(Shafer-Landau, 2012). The most popular and commonly used ethical theories aredeontology, Utilitarianism, virtue and rights (Shafer-Landau, 2012). The topic selected forthe study of these four ethical theories is “Violence and War”. It is to be noted that theconcepts of violence and war are interlinked and can be seen as the two sides of the samecoin. Many people consider both war and violence to be a gross misappropriation of theethical as well as the moral principles.Utilitarianism can be defined as the ethical theory, which judges each action on thebasis of “utility” or the maximum amount of pleasure which it provides to the maximumnumber of people without causing harm or pain to anybody (Willis, 2014). This is aconsequential theory which judges the rightness or the wrongness of a particular action on thebasis of the utility that it provides to the people (Willis, 2014). This theory was propoundedby Jeremy Bentham and later popularized by John Stuart Mill (Willis, 2014). It is to be notedthat the concepts of war and violence when seen through the lens of this theory will appear tobe completely unjustified as instead of causing pleasure to the maximum number of peopleboth the concepts cause pain as well as suffering to the people concerned. The institutions ofwar and violence instead of causing pleasure as well as happiness leads to the death and thesuffering of people who are involved in the process. Many people argue that the institutionsof war as well as violence are a form of pleasure and also essential to resolve matters whichcannot be resolved by peaceful means. However, the means used during the process of warare completely unethical as well as immoral. The present day instances of terrorism whichmakes use of the violent means for the achievement of particular purposes is an example ofsuch unethical practices which instead of provided utility to the maximum number of people
APPLIED ETHICAL THEORY ESSAY2causes pain and suffering. The “Just War Theory” also states that war and violence should bethe last option and the persons concerned should try to resolve the issues by peaceful meansfirst (Lackey, 2017). However, there are others like George Bernard Shaw who consider themachinery of warfare to be completely justifiable as per the precepts of utilitarianism as afterthe resolution of the issues for which the war was fought in the first place, many number ofpeople get pleasure or benefits from the results. He even says that, “It is morally right for astate to wage war if and only if no other course of action available to it has greater expectedwell-being, otherwise, waging war is wrong” (Shafer-Landau, 2012). The “Just war theory”also states that "Force and violence are to be employed only if they serve some legitimatemilitary goal” (Lackey, 2017). Deontological ethical theory is the theory which gives priority to the concepts of dutyas well as obligation. The rightness or the wrongness of an action is judged on the basis ofduty and obligation. The term deontology was originally coined by Jeremy Bentham in theyear 1826 to mean “the knowledge of what is right and wrong”. However, in the recent times,the theory has undergone transformations and is related to the concepts of obligation andduty. This is a non-consequential theory and is seen as a direct opposition to theconsequential theory which focuses on the outcome of the actions and does not take intoaccount the duty or the obligation. The concept of war as well as violence when seen throughthe lens of the deontological theory seems to be justified as both the actions require theperformance of the duties and the obligations by the individuals for the resolution of theissues. It is to be noted that since the traditional times war has been attributed with aspectslike duty, valor, fulfillment of obligations and various other aspects. Therefore, as the theoryof deontology deals with the aspects of duty as well as obligations of any particular actionand not the end results, thus the concepts of war and violence seem completely justified ifthey are related to the concepts of duty and obligations. However, when the Kantian ethics is
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