Under the duty-based theory, morality is objective and must not be influenced by ________.

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Duty-based ethics holds that morality is objective and grounded in rational duties that apply universally to all rational agents. The key idea is that what makes an action right is not how it feels or the particular outcome it produces, but whether it conforms to a duty that reason can discern. Emotions or sentiments are highly subjective and vary from person to person, which would lead to inconsistent judgments about what is morally required. If morality depended on how someone feels, there would be no universal standard—people could justify wrong actions simply because they feel justified in the moment. Reason, in this view, provides the basis for identifying duties and for formulating maxims that can be willed as universal laws. Law and custom are human practices and clothe actions in external authority, but they do not, by themselves, establish moral obligation; a law might be unjust and a custom might be outdated. Therefore, to keep morality objective and universally binding, sentiment must not influence moral judgment.