Moral Theories In Sports

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Sports and Moral Theories
Moral reasoning requires athletes to think about what is a good decision and is this decision right or wrong, strategic decisions are based on what advantage will this bring to the individual. Moral decisions produce a variety of different outcomes and two common areas of moral thinking include consequentialism and deontological theory. Both consequentialism and deontologicalism have strengths and weaknesses and both theories are used in a variety of situations, in regards to sports ethics.
Consequentialism
According to Schneider (2009), consequentialism is when “the consequences of actions are the primary element in determining thr right action to take in a given situation.” Consequentialism is one of the most common …show more content…

For instance, when a decision is made on a case like Tom Brady and deflategate, Commissioner Goodell needs to operate in the best interst of the owners and his goal is to make as many owners happy with his decision as possible. This is important to remember and places him in a situation where he might come off as the “scapegoat’ for the ownership groups. However, using consequentialism while serving as a league commissioner is a wise move to make solid decisions for the league. There are times when he may not entirely agree with the decision on an individual level, but if it places the league in a better situation, Goodell needs to remember that he is acting in the best interest of the league and not …show more content…

Unlike consequentialism, deontologicalism focuses on the decision itself and not the outcome of the decision. The 18th century philosopher Immanuel Kant is the philosopher who made deontologicalism popular and believed that all moral decisions should have the same answer. According to Kant (1960), “act only on the principle of which, then and there, you would be willing to make a general law.” Kant believed that actions of moral value are based on duty and that everytime that duty is encountered, the same moral action should follow, no matter the individual or

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