Ethics and Moral Theories Free Essay Example, 1250 words

Feminist ethics can be subdivided into Care Focused feminist ethics and Status Oriented Feminist ethics. Care focused feminist ethics challenged the ontological supposition that the more separated one is from others, the more fully developed the self is. They also challenged the assumption that the more universal, impartial and rational knowledge is, the more it is a reflection of reality. Status Oriented feminist approaches ask questions about power, before moving on to questions about good versus evil, justice versus care and maternal versus paternal thinking. Nonconsequentalism: - The nonconsequential school of ethical theorists believes that consequences should not enter into our moral judgments and decisions. The actual criterion of judging actions are not consequences, rather we judge actions according to intuitions, intentions, drive and command, etc. It also argues that we cannot generalize from rules or principles because each situation has a different context and can have different implications. Non consequentialist theories can be further subdivided into Act Nonconsequentalist theories and rule nonsequentalist theories. Act nonconsequentalists believe that appeal to emotions, drive or intuitions makes people arrive at moral conclusions. This theory allows us to get an immediate sense of right and wrong and we by default know what feels right or wrong. We will write a custom essay sample on Ethics and Moral Theories or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now It is argued, however that, intuitions are guesses and not really reliable, there is no proof of an innate moral sense and intuitions cannot be criticized. Rule Nonconsequentalists believe that there can be rules of procedures to guide our moral conduct and judgments independent of their consequences. This theory follows the principles of divine command that relies on rules laid down by a Higher Authority to make moral judgments. Divine Command theory: Divine command is a non consequentialist theory that believes in the existence of a Higher Authority and relies on such Higher Authority to pass judgments on moral conduct. This belief is comparable to a religious belief that says that the word of the God is final when deciding morally acceptable behavior (West, 2004). Kant’s Duty Ethics: Kant’s theory stems from his arguments about misconceptions about the purpose of life and what makes one happy. He argues that if the purpose of life was to achieve happiness, we shall all seek gratification and pleasure and believe that it shall lead to happiness. But happiness is not within out power to achieve, and is at times, a matter of luck.