Deontology or teleology in media ethics

1. Deontology or Teleology:
Ethics Based on Duty or on
Consequences
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MAC 402 Media Ethics

2. In Journalism Ethics, Merrill offers several
different ways to categorize or think about
ethics.
To summarize:
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MAC 402 Media Ethics

3. Direct or indirect view of ethics: Asks what
ethics are all about. What should be the focus
of a consideration of ethics?
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MAC 402 Media Ethics

4. Direct: Ethics is about the action taken. To
determine what ethical behavior is, we should
assess the act -- what has been done.
The key questions here are: "What should I do?
What action should I take?"
Exemplars: Kant, Mill
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MAC 402 Media Ethics

5. Indirect: Ethics is about the actor -- the nature
of the individual choosing those actions. The
main concern here is the formation of
character by a moral agent (a person).
The key questions here are: "What kind of
person should I be? What kind of character
should I work to develop? How should I
choose to live my life?"
Exemplar: Aristotle
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MAC 402 Media Ethics

6. Pragmatic or humanist ethical theories:
Considers the motivations for action.
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MAC 402 Media Ethics

7. Pragmatic ethics: Emphasis is on achieving
success, on reaching a goal ... potentially, with
relatively little concern for how that success is
achieved.
For pragmatists, the end (which itself may be
altruistic and socially beneficial, such as
informing the public) usually justifies the
means.
Exemplar: Machiavelli
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MAC 402 Media Ethics

8. Humanistic ethics: Emphasis is on doing
what's best for society.
Humanistic ethics, which overwhelmingly
dominate ethical theory, are more
unequivocally altruistic. The goals of ethics
here are virtue and social improvement
rather than personal success.
Exemplars: Just about everyone else
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MAC 402 Media Ethics

9. humanistic ethics come in at least three
flavors:
Deontological or duty-based ethics: The path to ethics lies in following
a set of guidelines or rules. The ethical person identifies a duty or set of
duties (for instance, the duty to tell the truth) and abides by it.
Exemplar: Kant
Teleological or consequence-based ethics: The results or outcomes of
decisions and acts determine what is ethical. In general, what is ethical
is the action most likely to result in the most or the most significant
good -- the best likely consequence.
Exemplar: Mill
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MAC 402 Media Ethics

10. • Personalist ethics: Ethical decisions stem from conscience, from a
personal sense of morality that pushes us toward a particular ethical
action.This is a more subjective approach than the other two.
Exemplars: Existentialists (Kierkegaard, Sartre, Camus, others)
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MAC 402 Media Ethics

11. Immanuel Kant
• Kant was an 18th century German Enlightenment philosopher. A deontologist, he
is best known for his Categorical Imperative. Being ethical involves identifying
your duty ... and following it.
• You do the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do. (This is the
"imperative" part.)
• The ethical duty is one you would want everyone to follow -- all the time, in every
circumstance, with no exceptions and (at least to some extent) regardless of the
consequences. (This is the "categorical" part.)
• The ethical duty also is one that values humans for themselves, never as a means
to an end. (So Kant is a humanist, not a pragmatist.)
• Kant would say that journalists deserve no special privileges regarding our
behavior. We should be held to the same standards that we apply to people we
cover.
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MAC 402 Media Ethics

12. Sir William David Ross
• Ross was a 20th century British deontologist philosopher who said
that we have multiple duties. Ethical behavior involves finding the
right balance between (and often choosing among) these duties in a
given situation.
* We are not one-dimensional, nor do we live in a one-dimensional world. We have many duties, some
competing.
* Duties are of several types, such as fidelity, gratitude and justice. Ross is rare in his recognition of the duty of
beneficence, a duty to provide nurturance.
* Some duties are right because of their very nature (such as the duty to tell the truth); these are called prima
facie duties. Others are right in particular circumstances, called duty proper.
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* Duties can be ranked. The most important is to do no harm. Close behind is to do good.

13. Aristotle
• Aristotle was a 4th century B.C.E. Greek philosopher. He is best
known for his concept of "virtue ethics" and for the idea of the golden
mean.
* Although some actions are always wrong (murder, for instance), in most cases, ethical behavior lies between extremes, along a range between excess and
deficiency.
This is the idea of the golden mean.
* Your goal is to develop ethical character, to become a "phrenemos" (a person of practical wisdom).
You must develop the habit of choosing wisely, avoiding extremes and thus achieving happiness. This rational achievement of personal happiness benefits
both you and others.
* Character rests not in obedience to duty but in an individual who makes choices.
This point and the last one underlie the basic idea of virtue ethics. Ethics results from becoming a virtuous individual, through the practice of repeatedly
making good decisions until doing so becomes a habit.
(So Aristotle, unlike the other folks on this page, takes the indirect view of ethics.)
* The outcome, or consequences, of our choices matter to Aristotle, at least more than to Kant or Ross. (So Aristotle leans toward teleological ethics.)
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14. John Stuart Mill
• Mill is the best-known of the 19th century British utilitarians. He is a
teleologist, placing the emphasis on a consideration of what happens
when you do something.
* The consequences of an action are the primary way to determine how ethical that action is.
The most ethical act is the one that brings the greatest happiness, or good, to the greatest number of people. This
is the principle of utilitarianism.
* Mill also gives us the idea of social ethics.
Individual happiness is trivial. Decisions must be based on a judgment of what will maximize happiness for as
many people as possible.
* Utilitarianism takes two forms:
* Act utilitarianism deals with a specific act only (situational ethics).
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* Rule utilitarianism deals with general practices (for which rules can be established).