True/False: In duty-based ethics, morality is determined by whether an action adheres to universal duties.

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In duty-based ethics, morality is determined by adherence to universal duties. This approach, often tied to deontological thinking and Kant’s ideas, holds that certain duties are binding regardless of outcomes. What makes an action morally right is whether the rule it follows could be willed as universal law, not whether it leads to good results. For example, promising to tell the truth or to keep a promise are duties that should be respected even if breaking them might seem to yield a better consequence in a specific situation. Treating others as ends in themselves, rather than merely as means, is another universal duty that guides moral judgment.

Therefore, the statement is correct because it captures the central claim of duty-based ethics: morality rests on conforming to universal duties, not on the consequences of the action. The idea that morality could be judged by outcomes or by factors unrelated to duties would misrepresent this framework, which focuses squarely on the binding nature of universal duties.