MIXORA CONCEPT
Deontology
A family of moral theories centered on duties, permissions, prohibitions or rights rather than consequences alone.
Deontological theories ask what one may or must do, including constraints on how people can be treated. Different theories ground duties in different ways.
What “Interpretation” means
This is a philosophical distinction, theory or contested way of organizing a question—not an empirical diagnosis with one universally accepted answer.
VISUAL EXPLANATION · MARKER BOARDSomeone may refuse to harm one person deliberately even if doing so would improve the total outcome.
Deontology does not mean consequences never matter; it means they are not the only or always decisive standard.
What action is required or forbidden even when the outcome is attractive?
A family of moral theories that evaluates choices centrally by the value of their consequences.
→thoughtVirtue ethicsAn approach to ethics that gives central importance to character, practical wisdom and human flourishing.
→thoughtThought experimentA deliberately imagined scenario used to clarify a concept, test a principle or explore consequences.
→SOURCES & TRUST
References
Last reviewed
- 01Deontological EthicsReference source
Larry Alexander and Michael Moore · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Duty- and constraint-centered approaches to moral choice.
What the source labels mean
- Primary source
- Original work, experiment, standard or historical text.
- Academic source
- Scholarly research or review published for an academic audience.
- Reference source
- An expert standard, encyclopedia or institutional explanation that summarizes a field.
- General reference
- A practical specialist resource useful for application, but not treated as decisive research by itself.