Ethics

Published: October 22, 2024

The subfield of Ethics in Philosophy concerns itself with the questions What is morally right? and What is morally wrong? The most well-known ethical systems are:

• Deontology, where we act in accordance with a set of rules (e.g., do not steal, do not kill).
• Utilitarianism, where we act in ways that try to maximize happiness and well-being for all involved.
• Virtue ethics, where we act in a way that embodies virtuous behavior (e.g., a virtuous person wouldn’t steal to enrich themselves but might steal if it meant feeding hungry children).

Let’s consider the following scenario: we can kill one person to save five. How would these ethical systems respond? A deontologist, if they follow a rule against killing, would probably disagree with the action. A utilitarian would most likely say yes, as maximizing the well-being of five people is better than that of one. For a virtue ethicist, it would depend heavily on the situation and which virtues they believe are most important.

Now, let’s raise the stakes: we can kill one person to save five hundred. A deontologist and a utilitarian would most likely maintain their positions. If a virtue ethicist initially said no, it is foreseeable that they might now say yes.

What if we assume the worst possible case: we can kill one person to save the rest of humanity, or let the one person live and allow humanity to perish? A utilitarian’s position remains the same. A virtue ethicist would likely also say yes, as it doesn’t seem virtuous to doom all of humanity for the sake of a single person. Even for a deontologist, despite the strict rules they typically follow, I don’t believe they would refuse to break their rule in this scenario. One possible exception is if they adhere to divine command theory, which states that what is morally good is what is commanded by God.

It seems, then, that unless one’s morality comes from divine commands, all ethical systems ultimately collapse into utilitarianism if the stakes are raised high enough.