Every advantage in the past is judged in the light of the final issue. — Demosthenes
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In ethical philosophy, consequentialism is a class of normative, teleological ethical theories that holds that the consequences of one's conduct are the ultimate basis for judgement about the rightness or wrongness of that conduct. Thus, from a consequentialist standpoint, a morally right act (or omission from acting) is one that will produce a good outcome. Consequentialism, along with eudaimonism, falls under the broader category of teleological ethics, a group of views which claim that the moral value of any act consists in its tendency to produce things of intrinsic value.[1] Consequentialists hold in general that an act is right if and only if the act (or in some views, the rule under which it falls) will produce, will probably produce, or is intended to produce, a greater balance of good over evil than any available alternative. Different consequentialist theories differ in how they define moral goods, with chief candidates including pleasure, the absence of pain, the satisfaction of one's preferences, and broader notions of the "general good".
Consequentialism is usually contrasted with deontological ethics (or deontology): deontology, in which rules and moral duty are central, derives the rightness or wrongness of one's conduct from the character of the behaviour itself, rather than the outcomes of the conduct. It is also contrasted with both virtue ethics which focuses on the character of the agent rather than on the nature or consequences of the act (or omission) itself, and pragmatic ethics which treats morality like science: advancing collectively as a society over the course of many lifetimes, such that any moral criterion is subject to revision.
Some argue that consequentialist theories (such as utilitarianism) and deontological theories (such as Kantian ethics) are not necessarily mutually exclusive. For example, T. M. Scanlon advances the idea that human rights, which are commonly considered a "deontological" concept, can only be justified with reference to the consequences of having those rights.[2] Similarly, Robert Nozick argued for a theory that is mostly consequentialist, but incorporates inviolable "side-constraints" which restrict the sort of actions agents are permitted to do.[2] Derek Parfit argued that, in practice, when understood properly, rule consequentialism, Kantian deontology, and contractualism would all end up prescribing the same behavior.[3]
^"Teleological Ethics." Encyclopedia of Philosophy. via Encyclopedia.com. 28 May 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
^ abCite error: The named reference Scheffler was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Parfit, Derek. 2011. On What Matters. Oxford: Oxford University Press
properly, rule consequentialism, Kantian deontology, and contractualism would all end up prescribing the same behavior. Look up consequentialism or the end...
threshold, consequentialism takes over. Theories put forth by Thomas Nagel and Michael S. Moore attempt to reconcile deontology with consequentialism by assigning...
Look up consequential in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Consequential may refer to: Consequential mood, a verb form in Eskaleut languages As an adjective...
egoism, should be considered as types of consequentialism. There are many different types of consequentialism. They differ from each other based on what...
Consequential damages, otherwise known as special damages, are damages that can be proven to have occurred because of the failure of one party to meet...
State consequentialism, also known as Mohist consequentialism, is a consequentialist ethical theory which evaluates the moral worth of an action based...
ethics; and consequentialism. The former focuses on the character of those who are acting. In contrast, both deontological ethics and consequentialism focus...
consequentialism is a version of consequentialism, which is "one of the major theories of normative ethics." Like other versions of consequentialism,...
Consequential strangers are personal connections other than family and close friends. Also known as "peripheral" or "weak" ties, they lie in the broad...
especially through the work of Alasdair MacIntyre. Notably, the term "consequentialism" was first coined in this paper, although in a different sense from...
basing his form of rule-consequentialism on the ideal of maximising the good. He writes: …the best argument for rule-consequentialism is not that it derives...
major approaches in ethics, consequentialism and deontology, which make the goodness of outcomes of an action (consequentialism) and the concept of moral...
The consequential mood (abbreviated CNSQ, less often CNS or CQO) is a verb form used in some Eskaleut languages to mark dependent adverbial clauses for...
consequentialism, which states that the consequences of any action are the only standard of right and wrong. Unlike other forms of consequentialism,...
of Philosophy, Mohist consequentialism, dating back to the 5th century BCE, is the "world's earliest form of consequentialism, a remarkably sophisticated...
of thought were Mohism, which developed an early form of altruistic consequentialism, and Legalism, which emphasized the importance of a strong state and...
The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (c. 8) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that created the Financial Services Authority (FSA)...
is grounded in the inherent nature of things themselves, whereas in consequentialism, teleology is imposed on nature from outside by the human will. Consequentialist...
logic, the second half of a hypothetical proposition or consequences Consequentialism, a theory in philosophy in which the morality of an act is determined...
The Scotland Act 1998 (c. 46) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which legislated for the establishment of the devolved Scottish Parliament...
John Stuart (1861). Utilitarianism. Hooker, Brad (2003-12-31). "Rule Consequentialism". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Archived from the original on...
significance of preference in utilitarian decision-making. Other forms of consequentialism include Prioritarianism. Deontological ethics, which hold that acts...
human behavior. In the narrow sense, ethical hedonism is a form of consequentialism since it determines the rightness of an action based on its consequences...
ethics; consistency of morals, and the justification of some cases. Consequentialism is a collection of ethical theories which judge the rightness or wrongness...
killing baby Hitler is unjustified, as infanticide is always wrong; and consequentialism may question what the consequences of killing baby Hitler might be...
obligations to what is right, instead of what is good. In strong contrast to consequentialism, this view argues for principles of duty based not on a function of...
has developed into a highly diversified economy and one of the most consequential players in international trade. Major sectors of competitive strength...
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