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Seven Ethical Theories
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A summary of seven ethical theories described in Disputed Moral Issues
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The very concept of an ethical theory is based on moral values and principles thatgoverns and promotes people to fulfilling an existence that is morally good. Ethics can be looked
at from multiple distinct views due to the diversity in people’s background, culture, and
upbringing. Some ethical theories may result in controversy to a person with differing moral
values, this is the gray area relating to ethical theories, not everyone will abide by them. In
Chapter One of the textbook, Disputed Moral Issues, by Mark Timmons, there are seven ethical
theories introduced that are founded by some of the world’s finest philosophers. The seven types
of moral theories include; consequentialism, natural law theory, Kantian moral theory,
rights-based moral theory, virtue ethics, the ethics of prima facie duty, and social contract theory.
The first ethical theory is consequentialism. This is the type of moral theory that is solely based
on the consequence of the action. The consequence will determine how right or how wrong an
action is. Consequentialism is more of a general sort of moral theory. The most notable type of
this moral theory is Utilitarianism, which was originally established by Jeremy Bentham. After a
while, an Englishman by the name John Stuart Mill took on the idea and further polished it.
Utilitarianism is basically based on the principle of ‘Utility’. This principle is the maximal
amount of happiness for maximal amount of people. This whole ethic is practically a number’s
game. For example, if there was a train heading towards five people on the track and there is an
officer in the control center who could switch the train’s track to another one where there is only
one person on the track, the utilitarian reasoning would encourage the officer to switch the
tracks. The belief is that one death is more acceptable than five deaths if it is controllable. Next,
the following ethical theory is natural law which was founded by Thomas Aquinas. The Natural
Law theory is the understanding that law and morality depend on each other. They both need
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