Hm… maybe I am a consequentialist, after all. But I try hard not to think of people as good or bad. What the Good Samaritan did was a good thing, because it helped the victim. And of course people with a charitable and benevolent nature will tend to do good things more often, as will those who follow good moral edicts.
Haha, I don’t know. Given that I was just introduced to it, I don’t know even really know the arguments for/against. I’ve so far only come up with arguments in my head, and they point me toward deontologist.
Filled out the survey. Neat!
I didn’t know those versions of morality. There wasn’t an option for “don’t know” but I guess leaving it blank is the same thing.
Consequentialism: anything is good which has the preferred results.
Deontology: behavior is good when it comports with the given moral code.
Virtue ethics: people are good when they are possessed of the proper character traits.
To modify an example from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: a Good Samaritan is widely agreed to be a good person, but the reasons vary:
A consequentialist calls them good because they improved the life of the victim they stopped to help;
A deontologist calls them good because they acted in accordance with moral edicts such as “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.
A virtue ethicist calls them good because they have a charitable and benevolent nature.
Hm… maybe I am a consequentialist, after all. But I try hard not to think of people as good or bad. What the Good Samaritan did was a good thing, because it helped the victim. And of course people with a charitable and benevolent nature will tend to do good things more often, as will those who follow good moral edicts.
Sure—that attitude would be entirely compatible with consequentialism.
Thanks, I guess I’m a deontologist until proven otherwise.
Until proven otherwise?
Can you unpack that a little? What would such a proof look like?
Haha, I don’t know. Given that I was just introduced to it, I don’t know even really know the arguments for/against. I’ve so far only come up with arguments in my head, and they point me toward deontologist.