End or duty?

Teleological ethics from the Greek roots for "end" "science," is a theory of morality that derives moral obligation from what is good or desirable as an end to be achieved. It is opposed to deontological ethics from the Greek roots for "duty" "science," which holds that the basic standards for an action’s being morally right are independent of the good or evil generated.

So which is it for Presidential candidates today? Forget experience; begin with judgment. Who judges duty to the good first; who judges duty to the cause? If actions are independent from morality, duty to the cause or leader comes first regardless of right or wrong consequences. Such is the deontological ethics of liberals. If actions follow from a duty to a morally good outcome, such is the teleological ethics of conservatives. Simplifying and differentiating the ends and means in either type of ethics, exposes the dangers of either putting duty before truth and reason as liberals usually do or ignoring the basic principles of individual freedom and responsibility upon which conservatism should stand.