An ethical framework is a way of deciding what to do. There are four worth knowing, and their value in the exam is that they reach different answers about the same case.
One case run through all four frameworks, showing that they genuinely disagree.
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| Framework | The question it asks | Its weak point |
|---|---|---|
| Consequences | Does it produce more good than harm? | The verdict moves when the numbers move |
| Duties | Is the act itself wrong? | Two duties can both apply |
| Rights | Does it take something nobody may take? | Rights collide and it cannot rank them |
| Character | What does doing this make normal? | Gives no answer about this single case |
How to use them without sounding memorised: Do not name the framework and stop. Run two of them, show they disagree, then say which you follow here and why. That sequence is the top band in almost every ethics question.
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Real-world examples you can name
Apple v the FBI over the San Bernardino iPhone — February–March 2016
The FBI asked a court to compel Apple to write software that would disable the passcode limits on a locked iPhone. Apple refused, arguing that such a tool could not be confined to one device. The case ended when the FBI paid a third party to unlock the phone, leaving the legal question unresolved.
Who it affected: Every user of encrypted devices, and investigators who cannot read them.
Waymo driverless taxis — public service in Phoenix from 2020; San Francisco from 2023
Vehicles carrying passengers with no human driver, using lidar, radar and cameras within mapped service areas. Incidents blocking traffic and obstructing emergency vehicles have made the terms of city permission the live question.
Who it affected: Passengers, other road users, and taxi drivers whose work is at stake.
The Zelensky surrender deepfake — March 2022
A synthetic video showing Ukraine's president telling troops to lay down their arms circulated on social media and briefly on a hacked news website. It was crude enough to be debunked within hours, but it is the standard example of synthetic media used in wartime.
Who it affected: Ukrainian soldiers and civilians, and anyone judging what video evidence is worth.
Self-driving cars, four ways
- Consequences: deploy as soon as it is safer on average than a human driver, because waiting has a body count too.
- Duties: a company may not use the public as a test, however good the eventual outcome.
- Rights: the people on the pavement never consented and cannot opt out, which is a different objection from risk.
- Character: what kind of society treats a fatal error as an acceptable cost of a product cycle?
How this is tested — this is the single most transferable skill in the subject: two frameworks on any case, then a choice. It comes up two ways:
Paper 1 — structured question
- Part c: evaluate an ethical dilemma
- Part b: explain an ethical objection to a system
Paper 2 — source-based question
- Q4: synthesise sources arguing from different frameworks
- HL Paper 3: recommend, and defend the recommendation ethically
The trap: naming without using: “A utilitarian would say…” earns nothing on its own. The mark is in what it produces here and why you accept or reject it.
Explain how a consequences-based and a duties-based view could disagree about scanning private messages.
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Evaluate the decision to deploy self-driving vehicles on public roads.
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.