DEONTOLOGICAL VS.

TELEOLOGICAL
APPROACHES TO ETHICAL EVALUATION OF
THE HUMAN CONDUCT
ELEMENTS OF AN ACTION
 DEONTOLOGICAL ETHICS

 Deontological Ethics or non-consequentialist

approach
- A body of ethical theories that measures and
evaluates the nature of a moral act based on
the validity of the motive of an act.
Examples of Deontological Ethics:
• Kantian Ethics or Kantianism
- Also known as the categorical imperative approach
- The idea that one should always base his actions on maxims
or rules that are believed to be universal. (Act only in such a
way that your action becomes a universal principle.)

• Divine Command Theory or ethics

- This ethical Theory holds that the standard of right and wrong
is the will or law of God.
 TELEOLOGICAL ETHICS
 Teleology
- Comes from the Greek word “tele” which means far or remote.

 Teleological Ethics or Consequentialist Theory

- Measures the morality of an action based on its consequences and not
on the motive or intention of the actor.
- If the consequence is good, regardless what the motive is, the act is
always morally good.
Examples of Teleological Ethics:
• Hedonism
- The view that pleasure is the only good as an end.

• Utilitarianism
- This school of thought maintains that the greatest good is
the greatest happiness or pleasure of the greatest number.
- Means that if the action can provide the greatest happiness
to the greatest number of people then the action is morally
good.
 COMPARISON OF DEONTOLOGICAL AND TELEOLOGICAL
THEORIES

DEONTOLOGICAL TELEOLOGICAL
 Motives/Principles/Intentions  Results/Consequences
 Non-consequentialist  Consequentialist

Examples: Examples:
Christian Ethics Utilitarianism
Ethics of Kant Hedonism
THE “MORAL SENSE” IN US
 Main difference between man and animal
- Man has a moral perception
- Basic knowledge of right and wrong

 Man
- Has a natural insight to morality, this being a gift of the Creator
who gave man a “moral sense”
- This moral sense is native in all persons regardless of race,
religion, culture, education, and creed
- A moral being
- Knows the fundamental distinction between what is good and
bad, what is moral or immoral
 1. THE SYNDERESIS OF MAN ACCORDING TO ST. THOMAS

 THOMAS AQUINAS (1225-1274) during the Medieval period.

- Italian philosopher, theologian, priest\ - Invited by Pope Gregory X to attend
- Sometimes called the Prince of
a General Council in Rome in 1274
Scholastics but died on the way to the Vatican.
- Died at a young age of 49 years old
- Wrote 25 books including Summa
Theologica and Summa Contra Gentiles - 49 years later, he was canonized as St.
- Developed a systematic Christian
Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor
theology in response to the problem of the Church
of the dichotomy of faith and reason
According to Aquinas, the moral sense in man is manifested and
expressed in three different ways:
1. Man is able to distinguish or to know what is good and what is
bad. Of all creatures, only man has the capacity to know the
difference between a good and a bad action.
2. Man is always obligated to do good and avoid evil. In any given
circumstance, man is the only creature who feels this primary
duty to do what is good and avoid what is evil.
3. Man knows what he is accountable for his actions – good or bad.
Of all creatures, only man realizes that the performance of an
action entails rewards and punishments. If he does good action he
expects rewards. If he does an evil action he expects punishment.
For Thomas Aquinas and the scholastics, this
“synderesis” is the starting point of man’s moral
reasoning which takes place when a person reaches
the “age of reason”. At this point, man acquires
the basic moral principles that teach him the
difference between right and wrong.
 2. FREUD’S THEORY OF THE ID, EGO, AND THE SUPEREGO

 SIGISMUND SCHLOMO FREUD the major drive of all individual

(1856-1938)
- Was born on May 6, 1856, at Freiburg
(now Pribor), a rural town in Moravia,
which was then part of the Austro-
Hungarian Empire (now part of
Czechoslovakia)
- Founding father of Psychoanalysis,
which is a major school of psychology as constantly torn between internal
- His theory about sexuality being the
center of psychopathology, as well as
developments, has made him one of
the most controversial yet most
influential scientists of the century.
- Founded the Psychoanalysis Theory
(Theory of the Psyche) where the
approach is to understand human
behavior which views men and women
unconscious forces and external social
forces.
The key points of psychoanalytic theory
are the following:
1.Man must learn to control inborn
desires
2.Man must achieve fulfillment in ways
that are harmonious with others
FREUD’S THEORY OF THE PSYCHE

Freud Plato
Superego Will
Ego Reason
Id Desire for Pleasure
• Superego is the spirited or will part in Plato’s theory. It basically
reflects on our social rules and values of the society that govern
our behavior. This also includes the codes and rules that we have
been taught. The superego has elements in common with both
reason and will power.
• Ego is the rational self or the conscious self. It is part reason
(intellect) but also part will power. Ego is under constant pressure
to fight off the pleasure-seeking desires of the Id. At the same time,
the ego is pressured by the reality forces of the environment and
the moral dictates of one’s upbringing – the superego.
• Id is the irrational part in us or the unconscious instincts, such as
sex and aggression.
 BUSINESS APPLICATION
 A business man may be tempted to cheat his customer in
the process of selling (id). He realizes, however, that to
give in to this enticement would be a violation of the
Code of Ethics for Businessmen and other positive laws,
like the Consumer Act, (superego). He therefore discerns
and begins to rationalize that it is better not to fool or
cheat the customer (ego).
 3. KOHLBERG’S THEORY OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT
 LAWRENCE KOHLBERG
- Born in Bronxville, New York on
October 25, 1927
- An American psychologist well-known
for his theory on moral development.
- Able to demonstrate through his
research studies conducted at
Harvard’s Center for Moral Education
in the 1950’s that people progressed in
their moral reasoning through a series
of stages
- His theory of moral development was
based on the earlier works of the Swiss
psychologist Jean Piaget
- Helped to clarify the general cognitive
developmental approach of Jean Piaget,
through his analysis of the changes in
moral reasoning or extending the
approaches into a series of stages
KOHLBERG’S THEORY OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT