Four broad categories of ethical theory include deontologydeontologyIn moral philosophy, deontological ethics or deontology (from Greek: δέον, 'obligation, duty' + λόγος, 'study') is the normative ethical theory that the morality of an action should be based on whether that action itself is right or wrong under a series of rules, rather than based on the consequences of the action.https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › DeontologyDeontology - Wikipedia, utilitarianism, rights, and virtues.