The OED is down today so this definition comes from A Preface to Philosophy 3d ed. by Mark B. Woodhouse, Wadsworth (1984).
Deontological: “Any ethical system or standard in which the rightness of an act is defined by reference to factors other than the act’s consequences.”
Today’s example comes from my dear State of California.
The U.S. Supreme Court, in its famed Gideon v. Wainwright case, unanimously ruled that state courts are required under the Sixth Amendment to provide counsel in criminal cases for indigent defendants.
For years, access-to-justice advocates and others have argued that such a right-to-counsel should extend to certain civil cases as well.
Those advocates have gotten their wish, at least in California. A new California law, signed this month by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, gives poor residents the right to an attorney in civil matters such as child custody and foreclosure.
The full story from the Online Wall Street Journal is here.
Why is this issue a case of deontological ethics? The California Legislature and our Governor do not seem to notice that our state is in fiscal crisis. They do not care that this law could crush the justice system denying justice to even those who already have access to state-paid legal aid. Injecting more lawyers into the system will cause these procedures costs to rise and of course rising costs are passed on to consumers — in this case renters and those seeking adjustments in child support, alimony, etc.
If they (the CA government)cared about the consequences of their acts regardless of their means they would be consequentalists. If they cared about cultivating virtue within their own individual characters they would be virtue ethicists and may or may not make a decision with which I agree, but at least they would be trying to cultivate and perpetuate good moral character (quit laughing!). No — because such a law “sounds good” and allows them to feel righteous — regardless of the consequences — they are practicing deontologists. And we are the worse for it.
And careful all you non-Californian naysayers. The destruction of California from within by nincompoops affects all of you — and in unknown and unpleasant ways.
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