How much weight you give rules that hold even when breaking them would improve the total. A higher percent is a more deontological lean.
About this test
Deontology, in the line from Kant's Groundwork and later writers such as W. D. Ross, holds that some acts are wrong because of the kind of act they are — lying, using a person as a mere means, breaking a promise — not only because of the sum of outcomes. Consequentialism, including utilitarianism, makes the outcomes decisive. These original scenes ask which way you break when a rule and a better total conflict. The percent is weight on the rule. It is not a measure of decency. A low score can be a serious moral view.
Question 1 of 11
What this test asks
A small lie would spare a friend an embarrassment and mislead nobody else who has a stake. What do you do with the truth?
You promised to show up. A larger good appears only if you break the promise with no warning. The other person will be let down and not destroyed.
Hurting one innocent person would, you are very sure, stop a disaster that kills many. The person does not consent.
You could advance your reputation by letting a colleague's work be seen as yours. The project would still help the people it is for.
You are about to make an exception for yourself. The question 'what if everyone in my spot did this?' occurs to you. How much should it count?
Someone is guilty of a real wrong. Punishing them will not deter anyone else and will not comfort the victim. The punishment is still proportionate.
A right of one person blocks a policy that would make the total happier. The person is not confused about their interest.
You could sell a vote you are entitled to cast. The buyer wants it more than you do, and the election is real.
You could betray a secret you promised to keep. Betraying it would help more people than keeping it, and the person who trusted you would be harmed in a limited way.
Five people will die unless you sacrifice one unwilling person who is not already in the danger. You will not be punished either way.
When you sort a hard week, which question do you trust first?
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