I think it’s always worth mentioning here is that most of the benefit from deontology can be gained by giving the appearance of deontology. But then mentioning that one of the best ways to make others think you’re deontological is to make yourself think you’re deontological...
On a not particularly related note: I think one practical modern case which is pretty near deontology is the human rights agenda. I used to consider the concept of human rights fairly meaningless, but obviously it’s much easier to ‘objectively’ challenge a government for breaching human rights than for governing in a way that ultimately leads to bad effects. And less open to abuse.
Law, in general, must be deontological. The public must be capable of predicting the behavior of legal entities, and there must be objective standards against which broaches of public functions can thus be addressed and rebuked. “Rule of law,” in other words.
But then mentioning that one of the best ways to make others think you’re deontological is to make yourself think you’re deontological...
Or at least implement and espouse some deontological rules. You can convince yourself of these rules however you like. Once you believe that you are better off not lying, then you ought to make a deontological-style pre-commitment against lying.
I think it’s always worth mentioning here is that most of the benefit from deontology can be gained by giving the appearance of deontology. But then mentioning that one of the best ways to make others think you’re deontological is to make yourself think you’re deontological...
On a not particularly related note: I think one practical modern case which is pretty near deontology is the human rights agenda. I used to consider the concept of human rights fairly meaningless, but obviously it’s much easier to ‘objectively’ challenge a government for breaching human rights than for governing in a way that ultimately leads to bad effects. And less open to abuse.
Law, in general, must be deontological. The public must be capable of predicting the behavior of legal entities, and there must be objective standards against which broaches of public functions can thus be addressed and rebuked. “Rule of law,” in other words.
Or at least implement and espouse some deontological rules. You can convince yourself of these rules however you like. Once you believe that you are better off not lying, then you ought to make a deontological-style pre-commitment against lying.