Applied Ethics: Theory to Practice

It may seem a large leap that theory would have an actual and pragmatic impact on real life, but explore this

Learning Activity to see just how practical theory can be in applied ethics.

From Many, Two Important Theoretical Perspectives

Because all ethical analysis and decision-making (for instance, analysis for applied ethical situations such as in business

and leadership) are grounded in foundational ideas, you should be familiar with two theoretical perspectives related to

the questions of ethics: the Deontological perspective and the Teleological perspective. These two categories of theories

offer some understanding and explanation about how one locates the “rightness” or “wrongness” of an action.

Let’s replace the word “teleological” with the term consequentialism for a moment (granted some nuances are being

suspended for applied illustration purposes). The perspective of the consequentialist indicates that the morality of an

action is located in the outcome(s) or consequences of the action. Another way to think of this perspective is looking

toward Jeremy Bentham’s idea of Utilitarian ethics, which in substance, indicates that action is good if it results in good

utility for many or more (as we’ve heard it said “the greatest good for the greatest number”). In light of a teleological

perspective, one might do “bad” or “harm” by truth telling if the outcome is “bad.” You can hear in this perspective the

substantiation for the white-lie answer. It may be said that in the Teleological perspective, consequences or outcomes

are prime for locating morality.

In contrast, the Deontological perspective locates the “rightness” or “wrongness” in particular actions, generally

irrespective of outcomes/consequences. Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative (obligation, duty, rightness,

wrongness regardless of context) indicates that actions are unconditionally right or wrong. For the duty-bound, there isIn the Learning Activity titled “Applied Ethics: Theory To Practice, (attached) we reviewed some principles and their lead theorists/ You will now apply what you learned in this activity/

Using the key principles discussed in the Learning Activity mentioned above, design a story where a fictional character in the spirit of Kant (Deontological perspective) and character in the spirit of Bentham (Utilitarian/Teleological perspective) discuss an ethical issue (you select the issue) in an informal setting/ This should be between 350-500 words/

The story should follow the following outline:

The Bartender presents the ethical issue/
The Kantian character presents an explanation of what the key factors are and offers a response/
The Bentham character counters with objections and a different explanation of what the key factors are and offers a response/
End with the Bartender returning to the duo, and summarizing each perspective (one sentence)/ Finally the Bartender prefers which perspective is preferable/