Ethics

The Basis of Right Action

What ultimately makes an action right: its duties, its consequences, or the character it expresses?

Positions

  1. Consequentialism

    Right action is what produces the best outcomes.

    Held by Classical Utilitarianism

  2. Kantian Deontology

    Actions are right when they respect duties and persons, not merely when they produce good consequences.

    Held by Kantian Critical Philosophy

  3. Virtue Ethics

    An action is right when it is what a practically wise, virtuous person would characteristically do in pursuit of human flourishing.

    Held by Confucianism, Peripatetic School, Stoicism, Virtue Ethics Revival

Methods used to investigate this question

  • Socratic Elenchus

    Socratic elenchus tests an interlocutor's claim through questions that draw out its commitments and expose inconsistency among the answers.

    Open in Methods

Discussion

Normative ethics asks what ultimately makes an action right or a life good. Three broad answers compete for the same ground: that rightness is fixed by rules or duties, by the consequences an action produces, or by the character and virtues of the agent who acts. A single hard case — a costly promise, a risky rescue — is judged differently depending on which of these is taken to carry the weight.

This is a question about the standard of conduct. The map presents the classic introductory contrast among deontology, consequentialism, and virtue ethics as three rival accounts of what ultimately makes actions right.

References