Relating to or concerned with duty and moral obligations regardless of consequences, rather than outcomes or results.
From Greek 'deon' (that which is binding, duty) + '-logical' (relating to logic or reasoning). Established as a philosophical term in the 1800s, notably in Kant's ethical philosophy emphasizing duty over outcomes.
Deontological ethics split from consequentialist ethics right when utilitarianism (judging morality by consequences) became popular—deontologists insisted that some actions are just *wrong* regardless of benefits, like lying even to save a life, which sounds abstract until it's *your* life.
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