Ethical theories are majorly based on assumptions about some absolute truths. To understand them better, one must consider the primary absolute truth upon which they are founded.
Utilitarianism
This is one of the most applied theories, which is also referred to as a consequentialism or teleology. The primary absolute in this theory presupposes that the means of achieving the result are always justified by it (Munson, 2012). Utilitarianism advocates for those actions that are most likely to yield the greatest benefits to the majority.
Deontology – Kant’s Ethics and Ross’s Ethics
As for the Deontology theory, its primary absolute is the proposition that rules and obligations define the morality of various actions as perceived by people. This theory’s representatives argue that it is not always the case that the consequences of an action should define its wrongness or rightness. Accordingly, some actions should not be done despite having good results. Ross suggests that every individual has a prima facie obligation to fulfill his/her duties, provided that there is no other duty of a higher magnitude, that is competing with the primary one (Munson, 2012).
Rawls’s Theory of Justice
The primary absolute in the theory of justice is the logic of compatibility of one person’s liberty to another one’s. The theory is demonstrated by experimenting with people who are naïve to the advanced knowledge with regard to facts, a society’s laws, and the way of life, and who are allowed to use their own intuitive knowledge to make prudent choices about life. An important observation is that most of their choices resemble those made while abiding by the society’s law and practices (Munson, 2012).
Natural Law Ethics and Moral Theology
The natural law ethics and moral theology theory posits that there is an inherent nature in human beings, which man is expected to abide by. The natural law is mostly defined as being immutable especially when linked to various religious beliefs that people hold (Munson, 2012). Its absolute truth predetermines that religious practices and beliefs are the products of human consciousness.
Virtue Ethics
The current theory attempts to illustrate how a presumably good person should confront cases that require actions demonstrating such virtues as charity, faith, courage, justice and wisdom as described by Aristotle, Plato and Aquinas (Munson, 2012). It is important to note that most of these virtues are learnt as we grow up by observing how elder people behave facing various challenges (Giersson & Holmgren, 2000). Its absolute truth is that a good person can only be defined as virtuous based on the learnt virtues (Shafer-Landau, 2007).
Absolutes and theories that most correlate to the Christian tradition or biblical references
The deontological ethics theory is heavily correlated to the Christian tradition as it gives the rules of allowed and restricted actions in reference to the Ten Commandments (Shafer-Landau, 2007). Its argument, that some actions are absolutely wrong despite the outcome, resembles Christianity which forbids some actions in any situations.
The natural law and moral theology also dwell a lot on the Bible especially where it insists that there is the will of God in the way that man must behave. Moral theology also gives much consideration on the kind of people we ought to be according to God’s will.
The ethical theory is most appealing to my personal belief system because it emphasizes on how a good person should react to various scenarios in the real life (Giersson & Holmgren, 2000). This theory promotes harmony among human beings which leads to a more comfortable life with minimal wrong doings (Shafer-Landau, 2007).
References
Giersson, H., & Holmgren, M. (2000). Ethical Theory: A Concise Anthology. Peterborough, Canada: Broadview Press.
Munson, R. (2012). Intervention and reflection: basic issues in bioethics. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Shafer-Landau, R. (2007). Ethical theory: an anthology. Malden, MA.: Blackwell Publishers.