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Topic: Rose has engaged, but she is not happy with that relationship. She falls in
love with the poor guy and really happy. But she lies to her boy friend. She
struggles for her love but hurt her boy friend and her family.
Good afternoon teacher. Today I wil present about two questions of the
homework. So the first question is “What is deontology?”
What is deontology?
Deontology is known as non-consequentialism, in contrast to
consequentialism, which emphasizes the relationship between duty and the
morality of human actions, as different from the states of affairs those choices
bring. The most familiar forms of deontology, and the forms that represent the
greatest contrast to consequentialism, maintain that some choices cannot be
justified by their effects—no matter how morally good their consequences, some
choices are morally forbidden. Especially, rightness derives not from the
consequences of an action but from its nature, its right-making characteristics. An
action is right or wrong not because of what it produces but because of what it is.
In deontological ethics, right actions have moral value if they satisfy four
conditions including universal, self, means, and long-term social impact. To be
specific, if you can universalize an act and still it is right, and you are ready to
accept the same act on yourself, or you should not use any person as a means
because every person has inherent dignity, which is fundamental and equally
valued by everyone. And about social impact, it claims that society will become
better in the long-term if your act is practiced, then it is ethical.
Based on deontology, morality is a matter of duties. There are some duties
common to everyone and we must act accordingly to our given duties.
Use the theory of deontology to express your idea about what is the
right thing to do in this case.
To begin with, Titanic is an American romantic adventure film that centres
on the sinking of the RMS Titanic and an ill-fated love story of Jack and Rose, the
two people of different social classes. To summarize, Rose is a young lady who is
about to engage a rich snob named Cal in order to help her family get out of a
difficult financial situation. Bitterly, she hates this prospect, so she tries to kill
herself by jumping from the ship. She is saved by Jack, a poor guy, and of course,
they fall in love during the brief time left to them. But she lies to her boyfriend -
Cal and hurts him and her family.
After applying Deontology to the situation, we can see that Rose's actions are
unethical. This is probably because she has had a public relationship with her
boyfriend - Cal, so falling in love with someone else and hiding it implies that she is
cheating on her boyfriend and everyone around her. For deontology, lying is always
wrong even if it is to benefit or brings about better consequences. Hence, Rose's acts
in this situation violate the first condition of deontology, which is "universal." About
"self" condition, her behavior does not satisfy the second one. It is clear that Rose is
not the only one looking for happiness. Will she accept the same action that happens
to her when boyfriend she loved cheats her and has a relationship with another
person? Moreover, in the movie, we all know that Rose agreed with her mom to
sacrifice her happiness for the family and engage Cal for a chance of survival. In this
case, it can be seen that Cal is a “mean” for Rose’s family to get out of their debt
which, again, violated the third condition of deontology. In addition, when meeting
Jack, she inadvertently ignores her mother's disapproval and hurts her in order to be
with him. On the ethical level, hurting family and loved ones, particularly mothers,
is morally wrong and should never be supported under any circumstances. Rose's
behavior is also irresponsible toward her family and herself. She is not just
unconcerned about the family's future, but she is also prioritizing her own interests.
