The Ethics Cheat Sheet
- Developed by Julie Staggers and Meredith W. Zoetewey
Aristotle
Kant
Utilitarianism
Feminist/Care
“Doctrine of the Mean”
 Find the mean between
two extremes
 Not a precise mid-point
 Differs from person to
person, situation to
situation
“Categorical Imperative”
 Act according to rules you
want to be made universal
and equally applicable to
all people, yourself
included, under all
situations
Formula of Humanity
 Never treat people as a
means to an end
 Treat people as ends in
themselves
Focuses on: Duty and obligation
Relies on: Universal principles
that can be figured out rationally;
All rational people would come to
the same conclusion
“Costs-Benefits”
 Make judgments based on
achieving greatest useful
good for largest number of
people
 Emphasizes “the masses”
not the “individual”
 Goal based
“Caring Concern”
 Judgments should be
based on sensitivity to
particulars of a given
situation
 Avoids inflexible, universal
rules
Focuses on: Virtue and personal
character and goodness for the
sake of goodness. Ability to make
the right choice comes from
experience and habit
Relies on: Principles – goodness,
truth, justice, fairness -- for guiding
actions (with some metaphysical
roots we access by sharing the
power of reason with the gods)
Strives for: The development of
the virtuous person (ethics don’t
involve individual acts, but
consistent patterns of behavior)
Actions should be performed
because: Their inherent goodness
Ethics are: Practical, related to
particular people, situations
©j staggers & mw zoetewey
Strives for: Fairness and equality
by applying ethics to all people
equally
Focuses on: Quantity of benefits
vs. costs
Focuses on: Complex social and
cultural relationships, the “whole”
and not the “parts”
Relies on: Calculations of benefits
and costs to determine the “right”
thing to do
Relies on: Ways of creating
knowledge and doing analysis that
go beyond “logic” and “objectivity”
Strives for: Fairness by being
impersonal
Strives for: Elimination of bias
against women, alternative ways of
applying ethics
Actions should be performed
because: They are demonstrably
the right action for the greatest
number of people
Actions should be performed
because: They demonstrate
Actions should be performed
caring concern, relationship, and
because: They are the “right thing”
the flexible application of values
to do (without regard to
Ethics are: Objective and scientific given depending upon the
costs/benefits for individuals or
particular person and situation
groups)
Ethics are: Caring
Ethics are: Universal and absolute