Is Ethics Rational? Teleological, Deontological and Virtue Ethics Theories Reconciled in the Context of Traditional Economic Decision Making

This article examines the most prominent ethical theories from the view point of economic rationality. Authors argue that utilitarian perspective which used to be connected with classical concepts of rationality in economics is not the only approach to understand reasoning behind the human behaviour. Moreover, Virtue ethics developed by Aristotle more than 2000 years ago, gives modern perspective to the questions of morale and ethics, connecting individuals to broader communities and explaining their motivation and actions. Similarly, deontological theories that from the first sight might seem as contradicting to rational choice, explain human behaviour when examined at the macro level of analysis. This conceptual analysis concludes that various elements from different theories on ethics are able to provide more profound model of reasons behind human behaviour in comparison to basic assumptions in classical economics.