Year 12 IB Extended Essays 2017

considering the consequence highlights the need of considering the means. Hence Mill ar-

gued that actions shouldn’t hurt others and thus a utilitarian argument may lean towards sup-

porting gun control. With the melange of ways that gun control can be applied to the US, the

worries of disfunction can be dealt with.

Deontological Argument

Deontology is a different ethical system that is typically associated with the ideals of philoso-

pher Immanuel Kant. Whereas utilitarianism concentrates on the outcomes or ends of actions,

deontology demands that the actions or means themselves must be ethical. Deontologists ar-

gue that there are transcendent ethical norms and truths that are universally applicable to all

people. Deontology holds that some actions are immoral regardless of their outcomes; these

actions are wrong in and of themselves. Kant gives a 'categorical imperative' to act morally at

all times. In its most widely used formulation, the categorical imperative demands that indi-

viduals act in a manner that could be universalised into a general rule of nature. Kant believes

that all people come to moral conclusions about right and wrong based on rational thought.

Deontology is roughly associated with the maxim 'the means must justify the ends.' (Johnson,

2016).

The fact that guns are a device that serve no other purpose than to hurt people, the use or

ownership of a gun is immorally wrong due to the imperative. A deontologist would argue

that not only is gun control needed, but all guns should be made illegal, as the act of killing is

wrong. Obviously, many flaws can be found in Kant’s argument, as it leaves out the relativity

of a situation. As mentioned previously, the culture within America makes this theorem im-

possible to apply. However, if all gun laws were to compare to other countries, there may be

an expected drop in fatalities. It could be a painful process, but ultimately if guns were to be