Contains some spoilers for the Power of Three

Although this was in all likelihood unintentional on the part of Erin Hunter, Hollyleaf, Lionblaze and Jayfeather appear to represent Deontology, Virtue Ethics, and Consequentialism.

Deontology is "duty ethics, so it compares a person's actions against some duty or imperative. An example is Kant's Deontology, which has the Categorical Imperative that all persons must be ends in and of themselves and may never be used as means. Deontology emphasizes the character of the actions." Or, Deontology says that certain actions are always moral or immoral, regardless of the circumstances, for example "lying is always bad".

Virtue Ethics " measure actions against some given set of virtues, with the goal being to be a virtuous person (eudaimonia, the Greeks called it). An example is Stoicism, which, among other aspects, holds the virtues of wisdom, justice, fortitude and temperance. Virtue ethics emphasize the character of the person making the actions." Another way of looking at this, is looking at a person's intentions - if someone lied in a well-meaning way, the lie is okay.

Consequentialism says that morality is determined by "the results matter, not the actions themselves. Whatever has the best outcome is the best action. For example, under utilitarianism [which is strongly linked to consequentialism] the goal is to take whatever action maximizes happiness, regardless of the motivations or nature of the action." So lying is fine so long as the outcome is good.

(https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-differences-between-consequentialism-deontology-and-virtue-ethics)

So how does this link to Warriors? When you think about, this very much outlines how the original three make decisions, at least, during their Power of Three arcs. Let's take a look at this excerpt:

""Do you want help gathering herbs?" Jaykit offered. Hehad never been out of the camp, and he was desperate toexplore the forest. He wanted to smell the boundary markers; up till now he had tasted only the weak scents of ShadowClanand WindClan carried from the borders on the pelts ofThunderClan patrols. He wanted to feel the breeze fresh offthe lake, untainted by the scents of the forest. He wanted to learn where the markers were along each boundary so that hecould defend every pawstep of his Clan's territory.

"You could gather far more herbs with us to carry themback to camp!" Lionkit put in.

"You know you're not meant to leave the camp until you'reapprentices," Leafpool reminded them.

"But you'll need help if there are sick cats . . . ," Jaykit insisted.

Leafpool silenced him by flicking the tip of her tail overhis mouth. "I'm sorry, Jaykit," she meowed. "It won't be longuntil Firestar gives you your apprentice names. But untilthen, you'll have to wait like any other kits."

Jaykit understood her meaning. Their father was the Clan deputy, and their mother was Firestar's daughter; Leafpool was reminding them yet again that it did not entitle them tospecial treatment. His tail twitched crossly. Sometimes it feltlike the rest of the Clan went out of their way to make sure he and his littermates never got special treatment. It wasn't fair!

"I'm sorry," Leafpool meowed. "But that's just the way itis." She picked up the foul-smelling moss and padded back tothe medicine den.

"Nice try," Lionkit whispered in Jaykit's ear. "But it lookslike we're stuck in the camp for a while longer."

"Leafpool always thinks she can win us over just becauseshe brings wool for our nests from the moorland," Jaykithissed. "Or pieces of honeycomb to lick. Why can't she just give us what we really want—a chance to explore outside the camp?"

Hollykit swished her tail over the frozen ground. Jaykitknew she wanted to explore beyond the camp walls as much as he and Lionkit did. "But she's right," she mewed grudgingly."We must stick to the warrior code.""

In this situation, Lionkit exemplifies virtue ethics. He's trying to get Leafpool to agree to them leaving camp on the basis that they'd be doing a good thing, with good intentions - collecting herbs.

Jaykit is following a consequentialist line of thinking - he's all about the positive consequences of leaving camp. He wants to "smell the boundary markers...feel the breeze fresh off the lake, untainted by the scents of the forest...[and] learn where the markers were along each boundary so that he could defend every pawstep of his Clan's territory."

More on the two brothers later though.

Then we have Hollyleaf - "We must stick to the warrior code."

Hollyleaf is, in many ways, a textbook Deontologist. With one...notable...exception. When making decisions, her point of reference is always the warrior code. At multiple points throughout the book, she is reminded by other warriors that the Warrior Code, while important, can never have the answers to everything, and just generally, and making judgements independent of the Warrior Code really stresses her out. (Her strong connection to the Warrior Code contributes hugely to how shaken she is by her parentage.)

Here's a compilation of all the times Hollyleaf mentions the Warrior Code in The Sight, just for funzies:

"We must stick to the warrior code."

"But if we leave the camp without permission, we'll be breaking the warrior code!"

"But what about the warrior code?"

"But what about the warrior code? Is [Greystripe] officially deadaccording to the warrior code?"

"Has everyone forgotten? When Mistyfoot was taken by Twolegs, Hawkfrost replaced her only until she returned. Because according to the warrior code she never stopped being the deputy!" (Also, good piece of narration here: 'Lionpaw was surprised at Hollypaw's fierceness'.)

"If we start ignoring the warrior code, then we are nolonger warriors!"

"But the warrior code tells us we should drive strangers from our territory..."

You get the idea. All of her warrior-code-esque rhetoric makes her the easiest of the trio to pin down. (You know, besides that one...notable...exception.)

Moving back to the brothers, because they're a little more difficult to unpack. Here's another excerpt from The Sight:

"Hollykit gasped. "But if we leave the camp without permission,we'll be breaking the warrior code!"

"We'll be doing it for the good of the Clan," Lionkitargued. "How can that be against the warrior code?"

Jaykit thought of something else. "We're not warriors yet—we're not even apprentices! So why do we have to obey the warrior code?""

Once again, Hollykit is all like 'thE WARRIOR cODEEEE!!!1!!!!'

Lionkit is saying that it's for "the good of the clan" - again, an example of virtue ethics. He believes that regardless of the outcome, they mean well in sneaking out of camp, therefore the action is excusable and justified. And then there's him and Heatherpaw. In Dark River, Hollypaw observes that "he believed that he'd done nothing wrong." He believes that despite the fact that he and Heatherpaw are meeting in secret, they're doing it with good intentions, and that makes it okay. (Also he thinks she's cute, but you know.) Another example of this is the training he gets from Tigerstar. He doesn't even see the problem with learning from Tigerstar, because his intentions are so pure - he just wants to grow stronger and help his clan.

And then Jaykit is all like 'psh stuff the warrior code let's just go'. He's purely interested in the consequences: he wants to get out, and experience the world, and that positive experience is justification enough. Furthermore, regarding the whole dream-eavesdropping thing. (Dreamsdropping?) He justifies walking in other cats dreams, especially medicine cats, because the consequences will be good.

So yeah! That could have been explained much more eloquently, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Obviously this is a pretty simplistic analysis (Leafy was kind of pressed for time I'm sorryyyy I know they all have so much more depth to them than this/I should have gone hunting for more quotes) but hopefully it was interesting!

(Also I know I could have used an actual proper structure and spent a paragraph on each sibling but naaaah :3)

*brushes the poll which I wasn't sure how to include (again) under some metaphorical carpet*

~ Leafyyyy