Ethical Theories - Questions and Answers

Running Head: ETHICAL THEORIES
ETHICAL THEORIES
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ETHICAL THEORIES1
Question 1- Act Utilitarianism
One of the consequentialist theory known as Act Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that conveys
that an act of an individual in the moral aspect is only acceptable if it results to the best possible
outcome during the same situation. The basis of this theory is maximum happiness for maximum
number of people in the world that will only happen if our actions lead to positive results for
other individuals (Oakley 2014).
The example for this theory would be when a judge decides to not send a murderer to prison
because he thinks that he might not commit the same mistake again as he has learnt from his past
experiences. According to act utilitarianism his decision is ideal because it creates happiness for
the convict as he is being released.
The key strength of this example is that the murderer will get a new chance to learn from his
mistake and not feel negative if he was being sent to the prison as the crime has already been
committed and nothing can be done to solve the situation. The key weakness in this example is
that the murderer deserves to get punished for killing another person, but the flaw in the theory
allows him to be free for maximum happiness (Marques 2015).
Question 2- Divine Command Theory
Divine Command Theory is also known as theological voluntarism, which is a theory that is
solely based on religion and the commands of God. It implies that all actions done according to
the command of God is morally correct irrespective of the action. An action is morally accepted
only if it is a rule of God or done to please God. People with monotheistic or polytheistic belief
agree with the same concept of following God’s command to become morally acceptable
(Kheradmand and Tavakoli Bina 2014).