"Deontological ethical systems do not work" How far do you agree?

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"Deontological ethical systems do not work" Do you agree?

Advantages

  • Not flexible
  • Different deontological systems disagree as to what the absolute rules should be concerning issues such as homosexual behaviour
  • If we're just blindly following rules, are we being moral?
  • Following rules may lead to an unethical outcome e.g. Kant and the axe murderer

Disadvantages

  • Easy to follow - e.g. children
  • However, there is broad agreement between different deontological systems, even if they reach those conclusions by different methods e.g. Kant, DCT and NML all agree that it is immoral to murder

Evaluation

Conclusion: hybrid systems are best e.g. Fletcher's Situation Ethics or Mill's version of weak rule Utilitarianism

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