Three Methods of Ethics

Evaluation Essay

While all three theories make very respectable ethical points, I support Kantianism more than the other two theories. I believe people should do what is right no matter the circumstances. In this essay, I am going to explain why I believe Kantianism is the best theory as opposed to consequentialism and virtue ethics by comparing the differences between Kantianism and the other two theories.

While consequentialism makes some good points, I believe that Kantianism is ultimately the better theory. Consequentialists perform the action that makes everyone happy, in other words, they believe in utilitarianism. Baron argued two tenets of consequentialism, which were, “It is morally obligatory to do whatever will produce the best consequences,” (pg. 5) and “It is always morally permissible to do whatever will produce the best consequences.” Baron argues this by stating, “Rightness involves acting on principle.”(pg. 6) While I agree that you should strive to make people happy, I agree with Baron that you should do it in a way that is right. Consequentialists perform any type of action to make people happy, that includes lying to the person to make them happy. That is not good ethic. Lying is just immoral. It devalues the person as a human that is lying and it is disrespectful to the person that is lied to. Instead of lying to the person to make them happy, one can just not say anything. If one doesn’t say anything, he isn’t lying and he isn’t making the other feel bad.

Another example is cheating. Again, consequentialists will perform any action to make others happy. If someone is taking a test and the other person asks to copy that test, it is wrong to let him copy it. It doesn’t do any good for either of them. If someone wants to make the other person happy, do it in a sense that is right, let him do it himself. It doesn’t do any good for that person in the future if he has to copy everyone. He has to learn how to do things himself sooner or later....