Deontological ethics

Deontological ethics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Deontological ethics or deontology (from Greek δέον, deon, "obligation, duty"; and -λογία, -logia) is an approach to ethics that judges the morality of an action based on the action's adherence to a rule or rules. Deontologists look at rules^[1] and duties.

It is sometimes described as "duty" or "obligation" or "rule" based ethics, because rules "bind you to your duty"^[2] The term "deontological" was first used in this way in 1930, in C. D. Broad's book, Five Types of Ethical Theory.^[3].

Deontological ethics is commonly contrasted with consequentialist or teleological ethical theories, according to which the rightness of an action is determined by its consequences.^[4]

Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deontological_ethics