Consequentialism

Consequentialism is the belief that the ends justify the means — the morality of an action should be judged by the outcome of the action, rather than the action itself.

A brief history

The world’s earliest known form of consequentialism is Mohism, which was from the teachings of Mo Di in fifth century BCE China and advocated “a unified ethical and political order grounded in a utilitarian ethic emphasizing impartial concern for all” (Fraser).

A somewhat more modern consequentialist ethical theories is Utilitarianism, which was initially formalized by Jeremy Bentham in the late 1700s (Driver). Bentham’s moral philosophy is hedonistic — “[a]ctions are approved when they are such as to promote happiness, or pleasure, and disapproved of when they have a tendency to cause unhappiness, or pain” (Driver).

Contemporary consequentialism is heavily inspired by Classical Utilitarianism, but it shies away from its hedonistic nature (Driver). Modern ‘Consequentialists’ like G.E. Moore argue good includes “far more than what could be reduced to pleasure,” and also that pleasure itself is not an intrinsic good (Driver).

Applications/Where it works

Consequentialism is the ethical philosophy that most non-religious people believe they follow (BBC, General introduction).

In theory, consequentialism can be applied anywhere an action has good or bad outcomes — the action with the highest good would be the one to take.

As we discussed in class, consequentialism is often used in the creation of policy and legislation — we can consider the population as an ‘individual’ and in theory make decisions for the greater good.

 

Consequentialism can also be used to justify ‘bad’ actions taken for the good of society or an organization.

Problems with Consequentialism

The future is hard to predict. Often an action may have vastly different consequences than originally believed, making the ethical calculations inaccurate.

Highly immoral actions can be justified as long as the good outcome from the action is strong enough. Consider the following example from the BBC: “A billionaire needs an organ transplant. He says that if he is given the next suitable organ he will fund 1000 hip-replacements a year for 10 years. Giving him the next available organ means Mr X, who was top of the list, will die – but it also means that thousands of people will be very happy with their new hips.” Following consequentialist logic, this is a good and moral action, regardless of what  happens to Mr. X (BBC, Consequentialism).

References

Driver, Julia, "The History of Utilitarianism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 
    (Winter 2014 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), 
    URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2014/entries/utilitarianism-history/>.

“Ethics - Introduction to ethics: Consequentialism.” BBC, BBC,
 URL = www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/consequentialism_1.shtml.

“Ethics - Introduction to ethics: Ethics: a general introduction.” BBC, BBC, 
 URL = www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/intro_1.shtml.
Fraser, Chris, "Mohism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 
    (Winter 2015 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), 
    URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2015/entries/mohism/>.

Sinnott-Armstrong, Walter, "Consequentialism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
    (Winter 2015 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), 
    URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2015/entries/consequentialism/>.