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5/4/22, 12:47 AM Week 5 Overview - Deontology: UCOR 2910 02 22SQ Ethical Reasoning in Business

https://seattleu.instructure.com/courses/1603225/pages/week-5-overview-deontology?module_item_id=17540440 1/2

Week 5 Overview - Deontology

Last week in studying utilitarianism we saw that Mill challenged Bentham's relativism and reductionism, bringing forth instead a more progressive kernel by showing that there needs to be a robust normative sense of human nature: a sense of our common humanity according to qualitatively distinct faculties or capabilities that are not reducible simplistically to animal appetites or monetary values. Without any higher notion of who we are and what we are socially and creatively capable of, modern society is left to the cost-benefit calculations of the market, which means human life itself is left to being quantifiably measured according to its market value, and therefore disposable. Thus, whereas Bentham's utilitarianism lacked the ability to uphold the inherent worth of individuals and especially minorities, Mill suggested a way beyond Bentham that seemed to overlap also with virtue ethics. This week we will see another philosopher--Immanuel Kant--try to affirm and uphold the intrinsic value of human life, especially each individual regardless of majority rules and market values. Yet Kant provides us with a somewhat opposing view to utilitarianism and virtue ethics. Unlike the previous two ethical frameworks Kant's ethical framework of deontology is in no way oriented to happiness but rather to a principled sense of duty for its own sake. In our modern capitalist society deontology has become an important theory for elaborating a universal duty to affirm the inherent worth, and thus “rights”, of each individual against market utility--the rights of each individual are to be respected regardless of whether or not this brings happiness to anyone. But this week we will

5/4/22, 12:47 AM Week 5 Overview - Deontology: UCOR 2910 02 22SQ Ethical Reasoning in Business

https://seattleu.instructure.com/courses/1603225/pages/week-5-overview-deontology?module_item_id=17540440 2/2

wrestle with how this cherished notion of “rights” and the duty to respect such should be theoretically formulated as well as practically applied. What is it about our human nature for Kant that demands such rights to be respected for their own sake, and how should we best uphold them? We will especially focus on whether deontology can offer a robust guide for practice that not only protects individual rights but also positively empowers people and transforms society for mutual flourishing. A big question we will want to ask: it is one thing to affirm universal rights in theory, but can we uphold them in practice without actually cultivating higher qualities through virtuous practices … and thus can rights be practically upheld without any overarching orientation to happiness?

To read or watch: Review the materials on the Launchpad page Introduction to Kant's Deontology (https://seattleu.instructure.com/courses/1603225/pages/launchpad-introduction-to- kants-deontology) , which includes my video and lecture notes (https://seattleu.instructure.com/courses/1603225/files/68034388?wrap=1) (https://seattleu.instructure.com/courses/1603225/files/68034388/download? download_frd=1) Read Sandel, What's the Right Thing, ch. 5 Read Kant in the Justice Reader, pp. 161-167 (sections 7–14), p. 176 (section 25), pp. 178-185 (sections 29–37)

To complete or submit: Complete the Reading Assignment Questions (https://seattleu.instructure.com/courses/1603225/assignments/7016121) , which is due by Saturday at midnight. Answer the Case Discussion Questions (https://seattleu.instructure.com/courses/1603225/discussion_topics/7964152) regarding the youtube video about never lying, which is located on the discussion page. Your initial post is due by Wednesday and subsequent posts by Sunday.