Final answer:
The bad point of duty-based ethics is that it might involve difficulties reconciling conflicting duties, leading to potentially negative outcomes and challenges in determining what our duties are in complex situations, so the correct answer is all of the above.
Step-by-step explanation:
Which of the following is a bad point of duty-based ethics? The correct answer is: All of the above. Duty-based ethics, also known as deontological ethics, focuses on the inherent rightness or wrongness of actions, independent of their consequences. However, there are several criticisms of this approach:
- It can be hard to reconcile conflicting duties. In life, situations often arise where moral responsibilities conflict with one another, making it difficult to discern what our actual duty is in a given circumstance.
- It can lead to actions that make the world a less good place. By strictly adhering to duty without consideration for the outcomes, we might inadvertently bring about harm or less optimal circumstances.
- It can be difficult to determine what our duties are in all situations. Ambiguity and the complexity of real-life scenarios might leave us unsure of our moral obligations.
Philosophers like Sir William David Ross argue that previous moral theories like utilitarianism and Kantian ethics oversimplify the moral life and fail to account for the competing nature of duties we often face. He suggested that deontology should consider our 'prima facie' duties, which are our initial apparent duties before all relevant facts are considered. In practice, pluralists within deontology accept that some moral obligations are more pressing than others, which complicates the determination of our actual duty.