In contemporary moral philosophy, deontology is one of those kinds of normative theories regarding which choices are morally required, forbidden, or permitted. In other words, deontology falls within the domain of moral theories that guide and assess our choices of what we ought to do (deontic theories), in contrast to (aretaic (virtue) theories) that — fundamentally, at least — guide and assess what kind of person (in terms of character traits) we are and should be.

Deontological Ethics