Theories of rights and duties. Often require that the action is right regardless of the consequences.
Actions are intrinsically right or wrong. They are right or wrong in themselves and irrespective of their consequences. They are traditionally associated with Kantian duty but can also be linked to ethical systems which uphold absolute moral norms and human rights. Deontologists hold that one cannot undertake immoral acts like torture of spyies even if the outcome is morally prefferable, such as the early ending of a war. It is contrasted with Teleological/consequentialist ethical theories.
Any position in ethics which claims that the rightness or wrongness of actions depends on whether they correspond to our duty or not. The word derives from the Greek word for duty, deon.
Philosophy of duty, a term that is often applied to the practical philosophy of Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), but which was originally coined by British Philosopher Jeremy Bentham to describe his own ethics, Utilitarianism.
The view that intention or motive is the critical measure of ethical behaviour. Proponents of this view typically talk about moral duties.
The study of moral obligation.