You are not currently logged in. Please create an account or log in to view the full course.
What is the difference between consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics?
- About
- Transcript
- Cite
Kant: Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
In this course, Professor Adrian Moore (University of Oxford) explores Kant's Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals through eight key questions. In particular, we think about the fundamental difference between the three main strands of moral philosophy (consequentialism, deontology and virtue ethics), Kant's various formulations of what he calls the categorical imperative (as opposed to the hypothetical imperative), the relationship between the categorical imperative and the will of God, and the relationship between ethics and free will.
What is the difference between consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics?
In this module, we think about the difference between the three main strands of moral philosophy—consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics.
Hi, My name is Adrienne Moore,
00:00:03and I'm professor of philosophy at the University of Oxford.
00:00:04And I'm going to be talking today about one of Kant's most important works,
00:00:08probably the most important work that he wrote in moral philosophy.
00:00:13And it goes under the rather forbidding
00:00:17title Groundwork of the metaphysics of Morals,
00:00:19though people normally just refer to it as the groundwork.
00:00:23And we're going to be looking at this book by exploring
00:00:27it in connection with eight questions that I'm going to raise.
00:00:31And the first question is not a question specifically about the groundwork.
00:00:35It's a question that arises in moral philosophy anyway.
00:00:39And it's the question. What is the difference between consequentialism
00:00:44d ontology
00:00:48and Virtue ethics?
00:00:50And this is an important question because moral philosophers often will tell
00:00:53you that these are the three most important traditions in moral philosophy,
00:00:57and the reason why it's important in connection with canned
00:01:02is that can't is often taken to be the chief
00:01:06representative of the second of these traditions D ontology.
00:01:09So let's say a little bit about
00:01:15what the differences between these three great traditions
00:01:17consequentialism roughly speaking,
00:01:24is the view that the ends justify the means when it
00:01:27comes to deciding what you should do in any given situation.
00:01:32What's the morally right thing to do?
00:01:35You need only be interested in the consequences.
00:01:38There are certain consequences that we're trying to bring about,
00:01:42and if you have the means to bring about the best consequences,
00:01:46then you should pursue those means.
00:01:49And that's where the
00:01:52where this tradition consequentialism gets its name from.
00:01:54Because of this focus on consequences
00:01:59D ontology,
00:02:03which is the tradition that's particularly associated with canned,
00:02:05is the view that the ends don't always justify the means.
00:02:10There are certain things that you just must not
00:02:15do certain things that you just must do.
00:02:18For example, it may be that you should simply never lie, whatever the consequences,
00:02:22even if you think it's a white lie, even if you think that there's
00:02:28some justification for lying,
00:02:32the D ontology pissed may say, No,
00:02:34this is something that's just intrinsically wrong,
00:02:37and this is the kind of view that we shall see represented in camps. Groundwork.
00:02:40The third tradition, Virtue Ethics
00:02:47is in many ways a much older tradition than either
00:02:51of the other two goes right back to the ancient Greeks
00:02:54and is a tradition according to which what's important is not so much what you do,
00:02:58whether that's
00:03:05something that's justified in terms of its consequences or not.
00:03:07But what kind of person you are, what characteristics you have
00:03:11virtue ethics gets its name from the idea that
00:03:16we should be trying to cultivate certain virtues.
00:03:21And the good person is the person that has those virtues.
00:03:25Now both consequentialism and D ontology
00:03:29stand apart from that tradition of virtue ethics by putting this emphasis on
00:03:34the things that people actually do, the actions that they undertake.
00:03:40And that's
00:03:46the broad tradition within which we find can't.
00:03:47And in particular, as I've already emphasised,
00:03:52he will emerge as the arch representative of D Ontology.
00:03:55
Cite this Lecture
APA style
Moore, A. (2018, August 15). Kant: Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals - What is the difference between consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics? [Video]. MASSOLIT. https://massolit.io/courses/kant-groundwork-of-the-metaphysics-of-morals
MLA style
Moore, A. "Kant: Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals – What is the difference between consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics?." MASSOLIT, uploaded by MASSOLIT, 15 Aug 2018, https://massolit.io/courses/kant-groundwork-of-the-metaphysics-of-morals