Deontology and Waste Reduction
Deontology and Waste Reduction.Deontology (Duty Ethics) – Utilitarianism is sometimes called a consequentialist theory because it evaluates whether an act is right or wrong in terms of the acts consequences.  As also mentioned about Deontology, “focuses on what we are obligated to do as rational moral agents. It is particularly important to see that the deontologist does not say that actions do not have consequences; rather, the deontologist insists that actions should not be evaluated on the basis of the actions consequences.” What does the theory tell us about how things operate in the real world?The theory of Deontology (Duty Ethics) tells us that in the real world, as explained by (insert reference)- First, duty should be done for duty’s sake. The rightness or wrongness of an act or rule is, at least in part, a matter of the intrinsic moral features of that kind of act or rule. This basically means that we have an imbued duty to us the morals features that we should follow like we intrinsically know our duty of what is right or wrong doing. Examples of which are, acts of lying, cheating, stealing, which are fundamentally wrong and we know ideally that we have a duty not to commit these acts. The focus of the theory with regards to Waste Reduction is that we as human beings and individuals, we have a mutual relationship with our environment and we complement each other. It is our duty and responsibility to maintain our environment, for our own health and safety, as well as for the generations to come. As for economic behavior or perspective of companies, we know that companies exist to also create and promote products and with it are associated with wastes, gain profits and minimize costs but should not be to the extent that our environment is at stake. Thesis Question: Would it be efficient to reduce waste by encouraging the general public, manufacturing companies and factories, as well as the government, to consider the benefits of creating a sustainable planet for the future generation?Since the theory of Deontology means doing our duty or for duty’s sake, it is our duty as individuals to take care of the environment but properly disposing and reducing wastes by all means and not take advantage of it and take for granted. “We must never treat another human being as a mere means to an end (human beings, that is, cannot be treated as having solely instrumental value), and we must act in such a way that our decisions could be universalized—that our decision, in the given context, would be what everyone should do in that same situation.” (insert reference)
It is important to understand that as we all produce waste, we all have to take responsibility for it; waste is not just the responsibility of someone who moves it around for us or who manages or disposes of it for us. Waste management legislation clearly places certain responsibilities on the producer of waste so it is important to be clear under what circumstances your institution is acting as a waste producer.