Ethical Fundamentals of Consumption; from the Viewpoint of Utilitarianism, Deontological and Islamic Schools

Ethics is a branch of knowledge which strives so that man chooses for himself the right way of living, individually and socially, without any threats and punishments. It makes an effort, based on which, man suitably benefits from human and natural resources of the world, while also respecting others rights to such benefits. Based on the ethical fundamentals of Utilitarianism, unfair consumption and wastage of resources is in direct contradiction with personal and social benefits, thus such a behavior can easily be categorized as a negative one. On the other hand, because the wastage of resources and unfair consumption provides the grounds for oppression and transgression over others’ rights, two kinds of oppressions; internal and inter-generational, can be mentioned in this regard. This clearly explains that in Deontological perspective, unfair consumption is unethical. In the Islamic ethical view too, based on rational goodness and badness, improper consumption and wastage of resources provide the grounds for oppression over others and wastage of Divine bounties and is considered despicable. On the other hand, according to human conscience too, which is considered one of the tools to recognize ethical and non ethical acts in Islam, is considered reprehensible. With an analytic-descriptive method, in this research, first improper consumption is studied from the viewpoint of ethical fundamentals of Deontology and Utilitarianism; considered the most popular ethical foundations of the West. Subsequently, this behavior will be studied from the viewpoint of Islam’s ethical fundamentals.