Examples of Ethical Principles
There are two schools of ethical reasoning: one based on the good that results from
actions and one based on certain prima facie duties of people.
Consequence-Based Principles
The teleological theory of ethics focuses on the consequences of an action. The action
to be chosen is the one that results in the greatest future good and the least harm. For
example, if a fellow student asks you to write a program he was assigned for a class, you
might consider the good (he will owe you a favor) against the bad (you might get caught,
causing embarrassment and possible disciplinary action, plus your friend will not learn the
techniques to be gained from writing the program, leaving him deficient). The negative
consequences clearly outweigh the positive, so you would refuse. Teleology is the general
name applied to many theories of behavior, all of which focus on the goal, outcome, or
consequence of the action.
There are two important forms of teleology. Egoism is the form that says a moral
judgment is based on the positive benefits to the person taking the action. An egoist
weighs the outcomes of all possible acts and chooses the one that produces the most
personal good for him or her with the least negative consequence. The effects on other
people are not relevant. For example, an egoist trying to justify the ethics of writing
shoddy computer code when pressed for time might argue as follows. “If I complete the
project quickly, I will satisfy my manager, which will bring me a raise and other good
things. The customer is unlikely to know enough about the program to complain, so I am
not likely to be blamed. My company’s reputation may be tarnished, but that will not be
tracked directly to me. Thus, I can justify writing shoddy code.”
The principle of utilitarianism is also an assessment of good and bad results, but the
reference group is the entire universe. The utilitarian chooses that action that will bring the
greatest collective good for all people with the least possible negative for all. In this
situation, the utilitarian would assess personal good and bad, good and bad for the
company, good and bad for the customer, and, perhaps, good and bad for society at large.
For example, a developer designing software to monitor smokestack emissions would
need to assess its effects on everyone breathing. The utilitarian might perceive greater
good to everyone by taking the time to write high-quality code, despite the negative
personal consequence of displeasing management.
Rule-Based Principles
Another ethical theory is deontology, which is founded on a sense of duty. This ethical
principle states that certain things are good in and of themselves. These things that are
naturally good are good rules or acts, which require no higher justification. Something just
is good; it does not have to be judged for its effect.
Examples (from Frankena [FRA73]) of intrinsically good things are
• truth, knowledge, and true opinion of various kinds; understanding, wisdom
• just distribution of good and evil; justice
• pleasure, satisfaction; happiness; life, consciousness
• peace, security, freedom
• good reputation, honor, esteem; mutual affection, love, friendship, cooperation;
morally good dispositions or virtues
• beauty, aesthetic experience
Rule-deontology is the school of ethical reasoning that believes certain universal, selfevident,
natural rules specify our proper conduct. Certain basic moral principles are
adhered to because of our responsibilities to one another; these principles are often stated
as rights: the right to know, the right to privacy, the right to fair compensation for work.
Sir David Ross [ROS30] lists various duties incumbent on all human beings:
• fidelity, or truthfulness
• reparation, the duty to recompense for a previous wrongful act
• gratitude, thankfulness for previous services or kind acts
• justice, distribution of happiness in accordance with merit
• beneficence, the obligation to help other people or to make their lives better
• nonmaleficence, not harming others
• self-improvement, to continually become better, both in a mental sense and in a
moral sense (for example, by not committing a wrong a second time)
Another school of reasoning is based on rules derived by each individual. Religion,
teaching, experience, and reflection lead each person to a set of personal moral principles.
The answer to an ethical question is found by weighing values in terms of what a person
believes to be right behavior.
Summary of Ethical Theories
We have seen two bases of ethical theories, each applied in two ways. Simply stated, the
two bases are consequence based and rule based, and the applications are either individual