Consequentialism

In practice, this equates to adhering to rule consequentialism when one can only reason on an intuitive level, and to act consequentialism when in a position to stand back and reason on a more critical level.

Philosophies State consequentialism main Mozi supported a communitarian form of consequentialism, rather than individual pleasure or pain.

Positive consequentialism demands that we bring about good states of affairs, whereas negative consequentialism requires that we avoid bad ones.

The ethics of consequentialism go back to 5th Century BC Chinese philosopher Mo Di.

Agent-focused consequentialism, on the other hand, focuses on the particular needs of the moral agent.

Apart from this basic outline, there is little else that can be unequivocally said about consequentialism as such.

Bernard Williams has argued that consequentialism is alienating because it requires moral agents to put too much distance between themselves and their own projects and commitments.

Bernard Williams, "Utilitarianism" in his Morality, Cambridge University Press 1993 Like deontology, rule consequentialism holds that moral behavior involves following certain rules.

Brad Hooker avoided this objection by not basing his form of rule-consequentialism on the ideal of maximizing the good.

Closely related is eudaimonic consequentialism, according to which a full, flourishing life, which may or may not be the same as enjoying a great deal of pleasure, is the ultimate aim.

Finally, following Foot's lead, one might adopt a sort of consequentialism that argues that virtuous activity ultimately produces the best consequences.

He argues further that consequentialism fails to make sense of intuitions that it can matter whether or not someone is personally the author of a particular consequence.

Here, the relevant question is not whether the action is moral or not, but more broadly whether a moral theory is correct that says morality is determined solely by an action's consequences (See Consequentialism ).

He writes: …the best argument for rule-consequentialism is not that it derives from an overarching commitment to maximise the good.

However, consequentialism and virtue ethics need not be entirely antagonistic.

However, rule consequentialism chooses rules based on the consequences that the selection of those rules have.

In contrast to Bentham's views, state consequentialism is not utilitarian because it is not hedonistic.

Issues Action guidance One important characteristic of many normative moral theories such as consequentialism is the ability to produce practical moral judgements.

Negative consequentialism Most consequentialist theories focus on promoting some sort of good consequences.

Other contemporary forms of utilitarianism mirror the forms of consequentialism outlined below.