Trapped in his own grief, Hamlet is visited by the ghost of his father. The former King of Denmark …show more content…
This has been a point of deliberation for centuries. Consequentialism is the class of normative ethical theories holding that the consequences of one's conduct are the ultimate basis for any judgment about the rightness or wrongness of that conduct. Thus, from a consequentialist standpoint, a morally right act (or omission from acting) is one that will produce a good outcome, or consequence. In an extreme form, the idea of consequentialism is commonly encapsulated in the English saying, "the ends justify the means", meaning that if a goal is morally important enough, any method of achieving it is acceptable. (insert citation, edit). On the other hand, deontological ethics, a normative ethics position, holds firm that the morality of an action should be judged by adherence to a rule or rules (Alexander & Moore). Because of religious affiliations, Hamlet tends to be of the latter. Clearly, the outcome was