deontology

noun

1. (uncountable, usually)Synonym of ethics (“the study of principles relating to right and wrong conduct”).

   “The principle, then, on which Deontology is grounded, is the principle of Utility; in other words, that every action is right or wrong—worthy or unworthy—deserving approbation or disapprobation, in proportion to its tendency to contribute to, or to diminish the amount of public happiness.”

   “And then she discoursed with voluble blandiloquence on deontologies and morals, and pondered with imposing gravity on ancient lores, and wisdoms, and beatifications, and in all her countenance seemeth as demure as a babe asleep.”

   “[T]he main concern of the last two hundred and fifty years or so of ethics has been to assess the morality of actions or rules by themselves – act-and-rule utilitarianisms and deontologies – as opposed to an interpretation of actions within a morality of being.”

   “William Frankena has altered [Charlie Dunbar] Broad's distinction slightly to define teleology as making consequences the "one and only … ultimate right-making characteristic" and to define deontology as allowing "that there are other considerations that may make an action or rule right or obligatory besides the goodness or badness of its consequences …"[…].”

2. (specifically, uncountable, usually)Synonym of ethics (“the study of principles relating to right and wrong conduct”).