Interpreting The Deontology Theory

Is it ever okay to take the life of yourself or someone else? The term “murder” means that someone is intentionally taking the life of another and realistically it is labeled as unmoral and unlawful. However, there are some cases of “murder” or “execution” which is done for a benefit. For example, killing another human in hopes of saving yourself from them, meaning they were presenting a fatal threat to you, and as well as ordering a criminal to execution for their heinous crimes. Furthermore, would these forms of killing is to be considered okay? It stands that under law, if a defendant can past the five elements of proving their attacker as dangerous and a threat, then no criminal charges will be filed against them (National Paralegal College,

By what means can we answer to what approaches explain the idea of killing another by using philosophy? Well one approach is Deontology. Deontology states that we are morally obligated to act in accordance with a certain set of principles and rules regardless of the outcome (Shakil, 2013). To break this down into simpler terms, the Deontology theory disregards the idea of looking at what could happen and acting upon instinct and to know what you need to do. That’s why this theory runs alongside non-consequentialism. Why you can approach the topic of human killing for self-defense with the deontology theory is that when you are in the moment of getting attacked, you tend to act upon feeling and what you morally feel is right rather than acting upon the consequences. Which is exactly what the Deontology theory states. Another part of Kant’s Deontology theory suggests that any action that you complete as an individual must be acceptable as a whole (Stell, duke.edu). Many would agree that self-defense would fall under this because they believe that choosing to protect yourself from danger should be considered acceptable. That is if you use self-defense

This method of thinking involves looking at the virtues or moral character of the topic (Hursthouse, 2012). Another part of this method is helping those in need of help. Virtue Ethics consists of three main parts. These parts include Virtue, Practical Wisdom, and Eudaimonia. All three of these parts means something different. For example, Virtue is a behavior that shows a high moral character, Practical Wisdom is a virtue that descends from practical reasoning, and Eudaimonia is translated and means happiness or creates a high wellbeing (to either yourself or someone else). How you can apply Virtue Ethics to self-defense is rather unchallenging. For instance, say you are walking home late one night and you stumble past an alley and you notice that a dangerous situation involving a man and a woman is taking place at the end. You can easily recognize that the man is harming the woman and that the woman is so frail that she is unable to protect herself from this man. From there, you decide to step into the situation and as a result you kill the man. This may occur in a very extreme situation and as you and the woman put it; you were only protecting yourselves. This should be justified under law due to the fact that you were using force in order to protect yourself (saying as if the man was going to come after you as well once you stepped into the situation) and protect someone else who is not able to stop