Master Class [150]: Non consequentialist Theories: Part 1
For the consequentialist, the rightness of an action depends entirely on the effects of that action (or of following the rule that governs it). Good effects make the deed right; bad effects make the deed wrong. But for the non-consequentialist (otherwise known as a deontologist), the rightness of an action can never be measured by such a variable, contingent standard as the quantity of goodness brought into the world. Rightness derives not from the consequences of an action but from its nature, its right-making characteristics.
An action is right (or wrong) not because of what it produces but because of what it is. Yet for all their differences, both consequentialist and deontological theories contain elements that seem to go to the heart of morality and our moral experience. So, in this chapter, we look at ethics through a deontological lens and explore the two deontological theories that historically have offered the strongest challenges to consequentialist views: Kant’s moral system and natural law theory.
KANT’S ETHICS