Applied Ethical Theory Essay: Violence and War Analysis

This essay delves into the application of various ethical theories—utilitarianism, deontology, rights, and virtue ethics—to the complex concepts of violence and war. The essay examines how each theory provides a distinct framework for evaluating the morality of actions and decisions related to conflict. Utilitarianism is assessed based on its focus on maximizing overall happiness and minimizing suffering, while deontology is analyzed through its emphasis on duty and obligation. The rights-based theory is considered in terms of its protection of individual rights, and virtue ethics is examined for its emphasis on character and virtuous actions. The essay highlights the conflicting perspectives that arise when applying these theories to violence and war, demonstrating how different ethical frameworks can lead to contrasting conclusions about the justifiability of conflict. The essay also explores the "Just War Theory" and its principles. The analysis underscores the complexities of ethical decision-making in situations involving violence and war, showing how the choice of ethical framework significantly influences the assessment of moral actions.

Running head: APPLIED ETHICAL THEORY ESSAY
Applied Ethical Theory Essay
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1APPLIED ETHICAL THEORY ESSAY
Ethics can be defined as the moral values or principles, which govern the behavior or
the actions of a particular person or individual (Shafer-Landau, 2012). There are various
theories related to ethics, which try to rationalize the various human actions or behaviors
(Shafer-Landau, 2012). The most popular and commonly used ethical theories are
deontology, Utilitarianism, virtue and rights (Shafer-Landau, 2012). The topic selected for
the study of these four ethical theories is “Violence and War”. It is to be noted that the
concepts of violence and war are interlinked and can be seen as the two sides of the same
coin. Many people consider both war and violence to be a gross misappropriation of the
ethical as well as the moral principles.
Utilitarianism can be defined as the ethical theory, which judges each action on the
basis of “utility” or the maximum amount of pleasure which it provides to the maximum
number of people without causing harm or pain to anybody (Willis, 2014). This is a
consequential theory which judges the rightness or the wrongness of a particular action on the
basis of the utility that it provides to the people (Willis, 2014). This theory was propounded
by Jeremy Bentham and later popularized by John Stuart Mill (Willis, 2014). It is to be noted
that the concepts of war and violence when seen through the lens of this theory will appear to
be completely unjustified as instead of causing pleasure to the maximum number of people
both the concepts cause pain as well as suffering to the people concerned. The institutions of
war and violence instead of causing pleasure as well as happiness leads to the death and the
suffering of people who are involved in the process. Many people argue that the institutions
of war as well as violence are a form of pleasure and also essential to resolve matters which
cannot be resolved by peaceful means. However, the means used during the process of war
are completely unethical as well as immoral. The present day instances of terrorism which
makes use of the violent means for the achievement of particular purposes is an example of
such unethical practices which instead of provided utility to the maximum number of people

2APPLIED ETHICAL THEORY ESSAY
causes pain and suffering. The “Just War Theory” also states that war and violence should be
the last option and the persons concerned should try to resolve the issues by peaceful means
first (Lackey, 2017). However, there are others like George Bernard Shaw who consider the
machinery of warfare to be completely justifiable as per the precepts of utilitarianism as after
the resolution of the issues for which the war was fought in the first place, many number of
people get pleasure or benefits from the results. He even says that, “It is morally right for a
state to wage war if and only if no other course of action available to it has greater expected
well-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 legitimate
military goal” (Lackey, 2017).
Deontological ethical theory is the theory which gives priority to the concepts of duty
as well as obligation. The rightness or the wrongness of an action is judged on the basis of
duty and obligation. The term deontology was originally coined by Jeremy Bentham in the
year 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 and
duty. This is a non-consequential theory and is seen as a direct opposition to the
consequential theory which focuses on the outcome of the actions and does not take into
account the duty or the obligation. The concept of war as well as violence when seen through
the lens of the deontological theory seems to be justified as both the actions require the
performance of the duties and the obligations by the individuals for the resolution of the
issues. It is to be noted that since the traditional times war has been attributed with aspects
like duty, valor, fulfillment of obligations and various other aspects. Therefore, as the theory
of deontology deals with the aspects of duty as well as obligations of any particular action
and not the end results, thus the concepts of war and violence seem completely justified if
they are related to the concepts of duty and obligations. However, when the Kantian ethics is

3APPLIED ETHICAL THEORY ESSAY
taken into consideration which completely ignores the emotions involved in the action, it is
seen that there is a conflict between the duty to defend oneself and the obligation to kill
others during the time of war (Formosa, 2014).
The “Rights Ethical Theory” gives priority or importance to the concept of rights in
the justification of a particular action (Beitz, 2013). This theory considers that the rights are
ethically as well as morally correct as they are endorsed as well as followed by the majority
of the population (Beitz, 2013). It is to be noted that the definition of the right depends on the
way it is being interpreted and the also the circumstances under which it is being interpreted.
This theory belongs to the category of the non-consequential theory as the theory considers
an action to be right if the individual takes into consideration the rights of the other
individuals (Beitz, 2013). The concepts of war and violence when seen through the lens of
this theory will on one hand reveal the fact that it leads to the violation of the rights of the
individuals on account of the violence which they are made to undergo. The concepts of war
and violence, on the other hand, will appear to be justified as a war is normally declared
when there is a gross misappropriation of the rights of one party or nation.
The “Virtue Ethical Theory” gives priority to virtues or good actions on the part of the
individuals (Wolbring, 2012). The theory states that the actions of a particular person are the
expression of his or her character and therefore emphasis is placed on virtuous actions
(Wolbring, 2012). Therefore, the theory instead of giving importance to the end results of the
actions stresses on virtue of the actions and the development of virtuous character as a
virtuous person is more likely to perform actions. This is a non-consequential theory as the
consequential theory states that the consequences of a particular action determine the
rightness or the wrongness of the particular action, whereas the virtue theory stresses the
rightness or the wrongness of the action depends on the virtues of the person is committing
the action (Wolbring, 2012). Therefore, the concepts of war and violence when seen through

4APPLIED ETHICAL THEORY ESSAY
the lens of this theory will reveal that they are unjustified as the acts of violence and war
entails no virtue along with them. However, there are many people who are of the opinion
that there is virtue involved in the process as the acts of war and violence are for the defense
of exactly those virtues.
Therefore, from the above discussion it becomes clear that one action which is
justifiable by a particular ethical theory can become unjustifiable as per the precepts of the
other theory. The various ethical theories, differ in the portray of the various ethical
principles and give importance or priority to diverse aspects of ethics. The concept of war and
violence therefore, is justified by some ethical theories whereas it becomes unjustified by the
precepts of other ethical theories.

5APPLIED ETHICAL THEORY ESSAY
References
Beitz, C. R. (2013). Human dignity in the theory of human rights: Nothing but a phrase?.
Philosophy & Public Affairs, 41(3), 259-290.
Formosa, P. (2014). The role of vulnerability in Kantian ethics. Vulnerability: new essays in
ethics and feminist philosophy. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 88-109.
Lackey, D. P. (2017). JUST WAR THEORY. Applied Ethics: A Multicultural Approach,
180.
Shafer-Landau, R. (Ed.). (2012). Ethical theory: an anthology John Wiley & Sons.
Willis, J. E. (2014). Learning analytics and ethics: A framework beyond utilitarianism.
Educause Review.
Wolbring, G. (2012). Ethical theories and discourses through an ability expectations and
ableism lens: The case of enhancement and global regulation. Asian Bioethics Review,
4(4), 293-309.