There are several moral and political theories that can be used to guide people in making tough decisions. Deontology is one example of a moral theory whereby the judgment of whether an action is good or bad is determined by its nature rather than its outcome as another theory, consequentialism, suggests.
Political theories include conservatism and liberalism. When a state employs the philosophy of conservatism, it aims at maintaining traditional, social and political values. On the contrary, liberals seek to change the ideas of conservatism with an aim of enacting freedom and equality among all citizens. This paper explores how the combination of the moral theory of consequentialism and the political theory of liberalism can help an individual in making tough decisions that involve professional and business ethics.
The combination of these two theories can prove beneficial in aiding an individual involved in decision-making. For instance, it’s possible to judge whether the liberals who propagated the French Revolution did the right thing based on the outcome of that revolt.
The French Revolution demonstrates a major strength of this combination. The extremists who led that revolution achieved their purpose of justice for all when the dictatorial leadership of King Louise XVI was brought to an end. However, the outcome of this revolt also depicts a weakness of this combination in that the revolution saw the rise of a new ruler, Napoleon, whose era was marked by increased warfare in Europe. This outcome shows that starting the French Revolution was not the right thing to do.
There are other ideas of moral and political theories that can be used in decision-making. One example is the combination of deontology and conservatism. Deontology suggests that the judgment of an action is determined by the nature of that action while conservatism ideas are those that dwell on retaining traditional ideologies. Let’s look at a situation when a person’s innocence is sacrificed for a good outcome. An example is a case where a student pleads guilty to an accusation of littering. Though the student knows he or she did not commit the offence, they might accept the charges leveled against them so as to avoid spending too much time in the courtroom. This, they think, will eat into their school work as opposed to the time taken in doing the social work penalty. In this case, those who support deontology would argue that the judgment of the student’s action was a bad one since his or her innocence had to be sacrificed. Consequentialism contrasts this ideology. Going by this theory, the judgment made by the student was a good one since he or she ended up saving time for doing school work.
Another example of the outcome of liberal movements is feminism. Most states had for years looked down on women before liberal ideologies took effect. The American Revolution also depicts how liberalism produced positive outcomes. As a result of this revolution, American independence was guaranteed and the slave trade was abolished in most states. The outcomes of these actions, irrespective of their nature, prove that they were the right steps to take. The combination of both theories of liberalism and consequentialism would hence prove beneficial to an individual involved in making tough political and ethical decisions.