Consequentialism
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
"I was not the one to invent lies: they were created in a society divided by class and each of us inherited lies when we were born. It is not by refusing to lie that we will abolish lies: it is by eradicating class by any means necessary."--Dirty Hands (1948) by Jean-Paul Sartre |
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Consequentialism is the class of normative ethical theories holding that the consequences of one's conduct are the ultimate basis for any judgement about the rightness of that conduct. Thus, from a consequentialist standpoint, a morally right act (or omission from acting) is one that will produce a good outcome, or consequence. The idea of consequentialism is commonly encapsulated in the English saying, "the ends justify the means".
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Etymology
The term "consequentialism" was G. E. M. Anscombe in her essay "Modern Moral Philosophy" in 1958, to describe what she saw as the central error of certain moral theories, such as those propounded by Mill and Sidgwick.
Criticisms
G. E. M. Anscombe objects to consequentialism on the grounds that it does not provide guidance in what one ought to do because there is no distinction between consequences that are foreseen and those that are intended.
Notable consequentialists
- R. M. Adams (born 1937)
- Jonathan Baron (born 1944)
- Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832)
- Richard B. Brandt (1910–1997)
- Milton Friedman (1912–2006)
- William Godwin (1756–1836)
- R.M. Hare (1919–2002)
- John Harsanyi (1920–2000)
- Brad Hooker
- Francis Hutcheson (1694–1746)
- Shelly Kagan
- Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527)
- James Mill (1773–1836)
- John Stuart Mill (1806–1873)
- G.E. Moore (1873–1958)
- Mozi (470 BCE – 391 BCE)
- Philip Pettit (born 1945)
- Peter Railton (born 1950)
- Henry Sidgwick (1838–1900)
- Peter Singer (born 1946)
- J. J. C. Smart (1920–2012)
See also
- Cārvāka
- Demandingness objection
- Dharmayuddha
- Doctrine of mental reservation
- Mohism
- Rule consequentialism
- Utilitarianism
- Welfarism