During this study week we learnt that there are several types of ethical decision styles such as: Divine command ethics, deontology ethics, Virtue ethics, Utilitarian ethics and relativist ethics. Let us first define what divine command, deontology, virtue, and utilitarian and relativist ethics. Divine command ethics: it is a meta-ethical theory which proposes that an action’s status as morally good is equivalent to whether it is commanded by God.
Deontology ethics: is the normative ethical position that judges the morality of an action based on the action’s adherence to a rule or rules. Virtue ethics: it emphasizes the role of one’s character and the virtues that one’s character embodies for determining or evaluating ethical behavior. Utilitarian ethics: the theory that the rightness or wrongness of an action is determined by its usefulness in bringing about the most happiness of all those affected by it.
Relativist ethics: A tendency to make ethical choices only on the basis of what looks right or reasonable according to one’s own belief or value system. My ethical decisions are mostly balanced between the divine command ethics and the deontology ethics. Base on my religion, I mostly distinguish the right of the wrong based the rules and principles given to us by the almighty Allah. Sometimes, I prefer to make decision based the set of rules imposed by the society.
I believe it is never easy to make any major decision in life. We don’t easily make decision because we are afraid of change. Any major change in an individual’s life brings consequences. This is why I mostly rely on the divine command ethics. The almighty Allah guides us in the right path in every aspects of our life. The most interesting thing is that he always mentioned in his scriptures the harmful effect, which societies before ours had had of every wrong actions committed.
Though some principles made by the society may wrong, yet it is important to derive the right from the wrong based on the common principles of the society.
Comments