Consequentialism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy), Rule Consequentialism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy), Consequentialism [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]. Or suppose you are on average twice as happy as I am, and we live equally long. See Bales (1971), Railton (1994). Read more. The criticisms of consequentialism raise a number of fundamental questions that are important in ascertaining the relationship with criminal law and justice practice. Consequentialism might be used to argue that Mr X's human rights (and his and his family's happiness) should be ignored, in order to increase the overall amount of human well-being. Two examples of consequentialism are utilitarianism and hedonism. For you could have tossed the coin in many slightly different ways, and in many slightly different positions. Ethics Defined (Glossary) View All 58 animated videos - 1 to 2 minutes each - define key ethics terms and concepts. (From 2), What objectively ought to happen is whatever would promote the greatest possible balance of satisfaction of the desires of all people. (From 1 and 3), The right action is the one that objectively ought to happen. In this article we will look at what act consequentialism is and whether it . So the total happiness we had is three times the happiness I had. For example, this could be in times of war or a financial crash. Although the next chapter was intriguing and urged me to read on. The objection does, however, directly attack Reasonable Consequentialism and Dual Consequentialism, because these theories say that an action is morally wrong unless we have a reasonable estimate of its consequences. Theories like these that count the same kinds of consequence differently for each person acting, are sometimes called agent-relative forms of consequentialism, though one might wonder whether they are in the spirit of consequentialism at all. Respect The Elders. 58 animated videos - 1 to 2 minutes each - define key ethics terms and concepts. Since Double Consequentialism does not imply that you should estimate the consequences of your everyday actions, it seems to escape the objection that consequentialism requires inhuman and immoral thinking. And what moves you to spend an hour with your friend or spouse or child should not be impartial calculations about the overall impact on the world at large. For example, killing one person to save five others would be considered moral according to this theory because it would result in greater overall happiness than if no one was killed. You cannot know all that before you act (or after). An action can show what kind of person I am even if it does not make me be that kind of person. The moral philosophy behind deontological ethics suggests that each person has a duty to always do the right thing. For example, it's a bad thing for a man to rape and beat a woman (regardless of consequences), but it's even worse if as a result of the brutality, her unborn daughter is killed and the rape victim who survives gets AIDS. If the greatest total can be created only by exploiting the miserable to make the happy even happier, then such consequentialism would seem to say that you should do it. And even people who do not believe in a life after death often give their lives for larger causes. Virtue Ethics in Healthcare Case 1. But of course I know that the position of the hand has no effect on my speed. Thus, a 'morally right' action would be concluded based on the achievement of the best possible outcome. Of course, we cannot know the overall consequences of our actions. 3 The version most relevant to law, rule consequentialism, evaluates legal rules solely based on their consequences.Legal rules, on this view, may (or must) go into effect if and only if . Despite its flaws, consequentialism remains a valuable framework for ethical decision-making, especially when used in conjunction with other ethical theories and considerations. "For example, you can hold the door open for someone, pick up trash that you see on. These values may not necessarily result in the best overall outcome. Actions that promote egalitarian institutions, then, would tend to do the most good overall. Before we check out these examples, you should note that a utilitarian considers all people to be of equal value to society. In this case, if each person follows consequentialism, the results are predictably worse than if everyone does something else instead. If you get involved in meddling, can you trust yourself to meddle in the right direction and with adequate care? The participants were mothers of Dutch, Turkish, or . Consequentialism is based on two principles: It gives us this guidance when faced with a moral dilemma: And it gives this general guidance on how to live: Different forms of consequentialism differ over what the good thing is that should be maximised. If you cross out +2 from both sides of 10+2 = 3(2+2), you change a truth to a falsehood. Consequentialism is a broad school of ethical theory. But consequentialism is still controversial. "Many people can incorporate altruism into their everyday life with small acts of kindness," says Myszak. So, an action may be deemed morally right even if it harms certain individuals or violates their rights as long as the overall outcome is beneficial. In economics, we can replace the terms . If only permanent things mattered, then your happiness and misery in this life would not matter at all; but surely they do matter. Web Privacy Policy It is a familiar truth of everyday life that greater wealth for an individual is no guarantee of greater . Hence people can agree on consequentialism while disagreeing about what kind of outcome is good or bad. Look at any of the standard anti-consequentialist philosophical examples - trolley car, organ bank, . But if quantity of life were the only kind of good result, then a long happy life would be no better than a long unhappy life. (At least that is true of the surgery example.) examples of moral decisions in everyday life. Perhaps our reason for each action is a combination of two things: the idea that the action will produce benefits and the idea that the action is morally permissiblethat it would not violate any principles of morality. To find out whether the action is rationally justifiable overall, one must look beyond these specific kinds of reason to find what overall reason there is. Consequentialism states that an actions moral value is determined by its consequences. Fiet, J. O. It is also egalitarian in that it takes everyone's welfare into account. The pros and cons of consequentialism. If most people who live along a short river toss their garbage in the river, so that it is always full of garbage, then your tossing your own garbage in the river makes no difference to the river, and it saves the inconvenience of driving a few miles to the dump. Act consequentialism is the belief that we have to consider - you guessed it - the consequences of our actions. It differs from utilitarianism in focusing more on individual pleasure than collective good (Scheffler, 2009). Consider this argument for Plain Scalar Consequentialism, which is based on one proposed in Mill (1861): One worry about this argument is that 1 seems false. In general, whatever is being evaluated, we ought to choose the one that will produce the best overall results. Sen, Amartya, and Williams, Bernard, eds. while it sounds attractive in theory, its a very difficult system to apply to real life moral decisions because: every moral decision is a completely separate case that must be fully evaluated, individuals must research the consequences of their acts before they can make an ethically sound choice, doing such research is often impracticable, and too costly, the time taken by such research leads to slow decision-making which may itself have bad consequences, and the bad consequences of delay may outweigh the good consequences of making a perfect decision, but where a very serious moral choice has to be made, or in unusual circumstances, individuals may well think hard about the consequences of particular moral choices in this way, some people argue that if everyone adopted act consequentialism it would have bad consequences for society in general, this is because it would be difficult to predict the moral decisions that other people would make, and this would lead to great uncertainty about how they would behave, some philosophers also think that it would lead to a collapse of mutual trust in society, as many would fear that prejudice or bias towards family or other groups would more strongly influence moral decisions than if people used general moral rules based on consequentialism, fortunately the impracticality of act consequentialism as a general moral process means we don't have to worry much about this, Whether acts are good or bad depends on moral rules, Moral rules are chosen solely on the basis of their consequences, an act is right if and only if it results from the internalisation of a set of rules that would maximize good if the overwhelming majority of agents internalised this set of rules, Rule consequentialism gets round the practical problems of act consequentialism because the hard work has been done in deriving the rules; individuals don't generally have to carry out difficult research before they can take action, And because individuals can shortcut their moral decision-making they are much more likely to make decisions in a quick and timely way, Because rule consequentialism uses general rules it doesn't always produce the best result in individual cases, However, those in favour of it argue that it produces more good results considered over a long period than act consequentialism, One way of dealing with this problem - and one that people use all the time in everyday life - is to apply basic rules, together with a set of variations that cover a wide range of situations. In choosing an action, one is normally not choosing its whole set of consequences, because one cannot know what most of the consequences are. https://doi.org/10.1080/0731129x.2017.1345221, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/egoism/. Amartya Sen defends the capability approach (CA) and the "discipline of consequential evaluation" which suggests that his CA is consistent with some form of "consequentialism". People too pass away, and planets evaporate. Was the cake a consequence of your action of tossing the coin? All utilitarian theories share four key elements: consequentialism, welfarism, impartiality, and aggregationism. morecambe fc owners examples of moral decisions in everyday life. Hence actions and policies that promote equality in external goods will cause more happiness by promoting a sense of community. Two Departures from Consequentialism., Brink, David. Why would two-level consequentialists punish only the guilty? Perhaps it does not involve explicitly thinking about the consequences at all. Your email address will not be published. These variations are themselves derived in the same way as the general rules. They reject any notion that positive results justify negative means, as every action carries its own costs and benefits regardless of the intent or purpose behind them. Good and Bad Actions., Pettit, Philip. (From 2), X is desirable means If X occurs, X will help satisfy desire. (Premise), What is ultimately desirable for each person is her own happinessand whatever promotes that. Consequentialism would seem to say that you should do this, but moral common sense says that you should not. Indeed, no one can know the future with certainty. That does not mean consequentialism tells you to leave me entirely alone. Example If in consequence ethics you should only care about the good that comes from an act, it seems as if unethical acts can be justified if they result in a good outcome. Perhaps, then, what counts as a good result is the amount of life that the action adds or subtracts in the world? https://www.jstor.org/stable/3750884. We ask about what outcomes are desirable in a given situation, and consider ethical conduct to be whatever will achieve the best consequences. However, they are still important considerations when making moral decisions. Consequentialism has many forms, including utilitarianism, hedonism, rule consequentialism, and many more, each emphasizing how to maximize net benefits or minimize harm. Copyright 2023 Helpful Professor. But Expectable Consequentialism has a strange implication. https://helpfulprofessor.com/consequentialism-examples/, That the consequences of an act are what ultimately matter when assessing its moral worth. Yet prominent commentators suggest or imply that Sen's CA is not "consequentialist". By Posted when did harry styles dad passed away In mckayla adkins house For instance, consequentialist theories are often cited when discussing the morality of euthanasia, capital punishment, and animal testing. Continued deception about a serious matter is difficult, so at the outset you must take into account the chance that you will fail or give up. Consequentialism is a theory of normative ethics that states that an actions value is determined by its consequences. Email: hainesw@hkucc.hku.hk The term may also refer to pleasure or satisfaction that people derive from being somewhere. Hence if you have such a secret, your further projects will be more poorly chosen, designed, and carried out. Impartiality: The view that the identity of individuals is irrelevant to the moral value of an outcome. A documentary and six short videos reveal the behavioral ethics biases in super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff's story. For instance, most people would agree that lying is wrong. In other words, one must ask whether the action promotes benefit overall. Sale of Kidneys for Transplantation Or suppose the recommendation that comes from you friend, your mother, your heart, or your prior resolution, reflects insight into the implications of your action that would not be reflected in the conscious estimates of consequences you might be able to work up on the spur of the moment. Many of our actions are aimed at developing skill. It was reasonable for him to rely on her imperfect judgment, even though neither of them knew quite what gold is. According to act utilitarianism, then, the right thing to do tomorrow is to go out and do charity work; it is wrong to stay home and watch television all day. The true answer would presumably have some sort of simplicity and would presumably support most of the concrete moral views that seem most obvious to our common sense. Although those three views disagree about which kinds of consequences matter, they agree that consequences are all that matters. Consequentialism does not itself say what kinds of consequences are good. 7. Consequentialism is an ethical theory that judges an actions moral correctness by its consequences. Another criticism of consequentialism is its reliance on calculation and prediction. Consequentialism can still tell you to give me resources or opportunities, or to help me with my projects, or to help improve the laws of our community. Criminal Justice Ethics,36(2), 183204. In other words, it means that the result or outcome of taking a certain course of action will determine whether or not it was morally sound. If you happen to be in charge of setting speed limits, you might be thinking that a bad result is a death: the fewer deaths, the better. Instead they use ethical rules that are derived from considering the general consequences of particular types of acts. Jack had no idea how to identify gold. In consequentialism, the consequences of an action include (a) the action itself, and (b) everything the action causes. One-of-a-kind videos highlight the ethical aspects of current and historical subjects. Another reply to the extreme examples is to point out that although they rely on secrecy, they overlook secrecys consequential drawbacks. Rule Consequentialism suggests that we should evaluate rules of behavior by asking what the consequences would be if everyone accepted this or that rule, but does not say that the rightness of actions has anything to do with the consequences of those actions themselves. (Premise), What is good for you is happiness for you and whatever promotes that. If there were just one option that is obligatory, then the choice would be easy. Moral common sense is shaped by and for the demands of ordinary moral life and so common sense may not be very reliable in odd cases. Scheffler, S. (2009). For example, when faced with multiple simultaneous patients in the emergency department it is important to have a way of reaching a decision quickly about which patient to attend to first. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40926832. Therefore, your intentional action of tossing did not make you win. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Reasonable Consequentialism says that for an action of mine to be right, I must actually come to a reasonable conclusion beforehand about the consequences. When directed toward making social, economic, or. I start with some easy examples. Triage rules are potentially justified by a form of rule utilitarianism that enables rapid intuitive decisions. Here is a brief overview of the main forms of consequentialism: Utilitarianism is a type of consequentialism that states that an action should be judged based on its ability to maximize happiness for most people. In economics, utility is the pleasure or satisfaction that people derive from consuming a product or service. Should it count if it is based on a factual mistake or if it is malicious? For another example, suppose you are a surgeon with five patients, each about to die for lack of a certain medicine that you can obtain (in sufficient quantity) only by killing and grinding up a sixth patient. The Consequentialist Perspective. In, Railton, Peter. Ethical Absolutism and the Ideal Observer., Foot, Philippa. It is the only moral framework that can be used to justify military force or war. Reasonable estimates of consequences seem to involve a different kind of probability from that discussed in 1.b above. The goal with this approach is to be a good person. Famine, Affluence, and Morality., Sinnott-Armstrong, Walter. Hence the reasonable expectation is that harvesting the healthy patient would have bad consequences. One of the main reasons to investigate moral theory is to learn how to approach these questions reasonably. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Her expectation that it will produce or promote that good outcome is her reason for performing the action. Understanding Dentology, Consequentialism, and Virtue Ethics Real-Life Examples of Virtue-Ethics 1. So you may prefer a different version of consequentialism. Additionally, predicting the future can be difficult due to unforeseen circumstances or changes in context. Similarly, there are no general standards of goodness for whole sets of consequences in genera. If there is an answer, perhaps it is something like this: both A itself and the things A causes are things that happen if you do A rather than the alternatives to A. (i) The objectively right action is the action with the best consequences, and (ii) the morally right action is any action with the best reasonably expected consequences. For instance, obeying highway speed limits might cause some individuals to miss their destination on time. The concept of consequentialism has been widely discussed in philosophical circles for centuries, and its implications are far-reaching. (From 7, crossing for you out of both sides of the equation), An action is good insofar as its overall consequences contain happiness. Further, it is important that people be free to make decisions for themselves, even poor decisions, because that is the only way that people develop strength of character and because constant experimentation is the only way humanity learns about the various possibilities of life. Hence the fact that consequentialism disagrees with common sense about odd cases is no disproof of consequentialism. While there are many varieties of consequentialism, their common thread is that, as the name suggests, normative evaluation of particular actions or rules depends on an analysis of consequences alone. 8 yr. ago What if I told you Kantians are also concerned about the consequences of their actions? Common-sense morality and consequentialism. One worry about these arguments is that if it happens that the most efficient way for you to help people is to send as much money as possible to help desperately poor people you do not know, then your following consequentialism may involve thinking of the people you know mainly as potential sources of money. Hence the consequences will probably be better. that determine whether they are good or bad, right or wrong. This removes many of the problems of act consequentialism. We formed four focus groups containing 6-9 participants each. This says that the ethically right choice in a given situation is the one that produces the most happiness and the least unhappiness for the largest number of people. 30 videos - one minute each - introduce newsworthy scandals with ethical insights and case studies. The University of Hong Kong Further, those near to you are counting on your help, so that if you stop helping them their plans will be disrupted, while strangers will not be hurt in that way if you do not spend money on them. As Brad Hooker, the world's leading rule consequentialist, argues, rule consequentialism is not plausibly motivated by a consequentialist commitment to outcomes being as good as possible: the case for rule consequentialism is instead that it impartially justifies intuitively plausible moral rules. The rights and wrongs of consequentialism. A sane person will decide on a project and then simply follow through, unless some new situation arises. Having life is something that provides value to people. V iewed from the outside, Catholicism's social teachings appear to be a perplexing gamut of unreasonably extreme positions lacking in any overall coherence. That is, one must look to see whether financial benefit outweighs the health drawback, and whether the benefit to me outweighs the harm to you.
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