This cheat sheet compares three major ethical frameworks: Kantian deontology, utilitarianism, and Aristotelian virtue ethics. Students need it because many philosophy questions ask not only what action is right, but why it is right. These frameworks give different tools for judging moral choices, building arguments, and evaluating real-life dilemmas.
A clear side-by-side reference helps students avoid mixing up duties, outcomes, and character.
Key Facts
- Deontology judges actions by whether they follow moral duties or rules, not by whether they produce good consequences.
- Kant's categorical imperative says to act only on a rule that you could rationally will to become a universal law.
- Kantian ethics says people must be treated as ends in themselves, never merely as means to someone else's goal.
- Utilitarianism judges actions by their consequences and says the right action is the one that produces the greatest overall happiness or well-being.
- A simple utilitarian calculation is net utility = total benefits minus total harms for everyone affected.
- Act utilitarianism evaluates each individual action by its results, while rule utilitarianism supports rules that usually produce the best results.
- Virtue ethics judges morality by the character and habits of the person acting, not only by rules or outcomes.
- Aristotle's golden mean says a virtue is often the balanced middle between two extremes, such as courage between cowardice and recklessness.
Vocabulary
- Deontology
- An ethical framework that judges actions by whether they follow moral duties, rules, or principles.
- Categorical Imperative
- Kant's rule that a person should act only according to principles that could be universal laws for everyone.
- Utilitarianism
- An ethical framework that judges actions by how much overall happiness, well-being, or benefit they produce.
- Utility
- The total amount of happiness, benefit, or well-being produced by an action or rule.
- Virtue Ethics
- An ethical framework that focuses on developing good character traits and living a flourishing human life.
- Golden Mean
- Aristotle's idea that many virtues are balanced habits between extremes of too little and too much.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Saying deontology ignores consequences completely is misleading because consequences may matter in life, but they do not determine whether the action follows duty.
- Using utilitarianism to justify any harmful act is wrong because a true utilitarian argument must count the harms and benefits for everyone affected, not only one person or group.
- Confusing act utilitarianism with rule utilitarianism leads to weak analysis because act utilitarianism judges one action, while rule utilitarianism judges the effects of following a general rule.
- Treating virtue ethics as just being nice is too vague because virtue ethics focuses on stable character traits, practical wisdom, and balanced habits.
- Applying Kant's universal law test only to the result is wrong because the test examines the principle or rule behind the action.
Practice Questions
- 1 A policy gives 80 people a benefit worth 5 utility points each but causes 20 people a harm worth 8 utility points each. What is the net utility, and would a basic utilitarian support it?
- 2 Action A creates 60 total benefit points and 15 total harm points. Action B creates 45 total benefit points and 5 total harm points. Which action has greater net utility?
- 3 A student lies to avoid getting a friend in trouble. Explain how a Kantian deontologist, a utilitarian, and a virtue ethicist might evaluate the student's choice.
- 4 Why might two ethical frameworks reach different conclusions about the same action even when they agree on the facts of the case?