Deontology vs. Ontology — What's the Difference?

Independent of outcomes in moral assessment.

Philosophical study of existence and reality.

Applied in evaluating moral decisions in law.

Fundamental in metaphysical discussions.

Ethical theory based on duty and rule adherence.

Influences theories in science and technology.

Influenced by Immanuel Kant’s moral philosophy.

Explored by philosophers like Aristotle and Heidegger.

Focuses on the rightness of actions themselves.

Addresses the nature and categorization of beings.

Ethical or moral theory concerned with duties and rights.

Ontology is the branch of philosophy that studies concepts such as existence, being, becoming, and reality. It includes the questions of how entities are grouped into basic categories and which of these entities exist on the most fundamental level.

The doctrine that ethical status of an action lies in its adherence to a set of rules.

The branch of metaphysics that deals with the nature of being.

(ethics) Ethics.

(Computers) A system for naming, classifying, and defining objects.

(ethics) The normative ethical position that judges the morality of an action based on the action's adherence to rules or obligations rather than either the inherent goodness or the consequences of those actions.

The branch of metaphysics that addresses the nature or essential characteristics of being and of things that exist; the study of being qua being.

The science which relates to duty or moral obligation.

In a subject view, or a world view, the set of conceptual or material things or classes of things that are recognised as existing, or are assumed to exist in context, and their interrelations; in a body of theory, the ontology comprises the domain of discourse, the things that are defined as existing, together with whatever emerges from their mutual implications.

The theory of a particular philosopher or school of thought concerning the fundamental types of entity in the universe.

(logic) A logical system involving theory of classes, developed by Stanislaw Lesniewski (1886-1939).

A structure of concepts or entities within a domain, organized by relationships; a system model.

That department of the science of metaphysics which investigates and explains the nature and essential properties and relations of all beings, as such, or the principles and causes of being.

A systematic arrangement of all of the important categories of objects or concepts which exist in some field of discourse, showing the relations between them. When complete, an ontology is a categorization of all of the concepts in some field of knowledge, including the objects and all of the properties, relations, and functions needed to define the objects and specify their actions. A simplified ontology may contain only a hierarchical classification (a taxonomy) showing the type subsumption relations between concepts in the field of discourse. An ontology may be visualized as an abstract graph with nodes and labeled arcs representing the objects and relations.

The metaphysical study of the nature of being and existence

Ontology specifically deals with the study of being and existence, distinguishing it from other metaphysical pursuits that might focus on knowledge or reality.

Deontology aims to define what actions are morally right based on rules, whereas ontology seeks to understand what fundamentally exists and how it exists.

Yes, deontology can guide business ethics by emphasizing the importance of following ethical rules and duties over merely profit-driven decisions.

In deontological ethics, the consequences of actions are generally considered irrelevant to the moral evaluation of the actions themselves.

Ontology helps in structuring and interpreting data in technologies, ensuring accurate categorization and relationships in databases and AI.

Ontology can theorize about the existence of supernatural entities, but it does not confirm or deny their existence without empirical evidence.

Deontology focuses on the inherent rightness of actions based on duty and adherence to moral rules.

Ontology is applied in areas like artificial intelligence for categorizing and understanding data relationships, and in philosophy for exploring the nature of existence.

Deontology is usually not flexible; it holds moral rules as fixed and universally applicable.

Criticisms of deontology include its rigidity and potential to ignore the moral importance of outcomes in ethical decision-making.

Kant’s philosophy, especially the categorical imperative, forms the core of deontological ethics, emphasizing action based on duty.

Yes, deontological ethics typically argues that moral principles are universal and should apply in all similar situations.

No, ontology also addresses abstract concepts, like numbers and properties, discussing their mode of existence.

Ontology impacts history by providing a framework to understand the existence and development of historical narratives and their significance.

An everyday ontological question might involve whether dreams have any sort of "real" existence apart from our perceptions.