Questions tagged [consequentialism]
The consequentialism tag has no usage guidance.
31
questions
4
votes
2answers
107 views
In utilitarianism, is it better to give 1000 units of happiness to 1 person, or 100 units each to 10 people?
Assume that we have a way of quantifying happiness, and assume that all the people mentioned are equally well-off (not that the second point matters, I don't think). I know what the answer would be if ...
3
votes
1answer
78 views
What would a system that aims to maximize my own well-being be called?
I was wondering what a moral system that says things are good if they benefit me would be called. At first I was thinking of normative egoism, but it seems like normative egoism says that everyone ...
2
votes
3answers
85 views
Why do some deontological ethical frameworks seem to reduce to consequentialism?
I may have a defunct understanding of deontological ethics, but for some reason it seems to me that deontological ethics ultimately reduce to consequentialist theories. Take, for instance, Kant's ...
2
votes
2answers
102 views
Should we pursue knowledge for the sake of knowledge without considering the possible consequences? [closed]
For example, should Alfred Noble be blamed for suicide bombers as he created dynamite?
27
votes
12answers
7k views
I'm being drafted to the military but I have the option to refuse (legally), would it be immoral for me to serve? [closed]
I’m set to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces but I have the option to exempt from the military if I wish to. So I’m in a big moral dilemma on whether I should serve or not, I’m currently leaning ...
2
votes
1answer
65 views
Ethics of saying “this cause is a just cause, but now is not the time to fight for it”?
This question stems from a discussion I heard with regards to LGBTQ rights in Arab and Muslim communities:
Arab progressive: LGBTQ rights are very important, and I respect LGBTQ people and think ...
4
votes
2answers
1k views
Is there a difference between utilitarianism and consequentialism?
In the Wikipedia entry about Anscombe, there is a quote where she juxtaposes traditional utilitarianism to 'consequentialism'.
In what sense are they different and what are some points of divergence (...
0
votes
1answer
363 views
do virtue ethics, deontology, and consequentialism all just assume their sets of preferences?
The way I understand it, there are three main branches of ethics:
Virtue Ethics: have a list of virtues to cultivate
Deontology: obey a list of moral rules
Consequentialism: the consequences of an ...
1
vote
1answer
112 views
Question about Chidi from The Good Place…SPOILER
Spoilers for The Good Place under the spoiler tag below:
I recently brought this up in an answer about fatalism, describing how free will would entail that we can predict the consequences of every ...
0
votes
2answers
142 views
If purpose is just another side of cause, is everyone a consequentialist?
Purpose is just another side of cause. This is what I take as a premise. One might change "cause" by "reason" sometimes, both are related.
Every non-randomistic process has some end after which this ...
2
votes
2answers
181 views
In trolleyology, why is the consequentialist choice invariant?
I've yet to read in trolleyologie any discussion of "sacrificing one to save many". Why is the consequentialist position seemingly always that way?
edit: if you know of trolleyologie paper or ...
0
votes
2answers
69 views
Would it be ethical to take an open source database and put a new name on it?
Lets say a person takes a free open source database software, creates a new name for it such as superdb.com, hosts it at AWS and offers cloud database services to the public, using the new name.
...
1
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0answers
86 views
A 'Different' Theory of Ethics
Is there a specific term for the theory of ethics which evaluates an action by comparing it to alternatives? I am aware of Deontological and Consequentialist theories, but if I understand correctly, ...
1
vote
1answer
403 views
How would a preference utilitarian decide about cheating on something or lying about something?
I cannot find a reliable example of either. I really just want a practical everyday example of the choice of a preference utilitarian.
Do preferences have weight? Is there some sort of "preference ...
4
votes
8answers
708 views
Can one be pragmatic when dealing with ethnic groups without being racist?
Situation A: A terrorist attack has just occurred and out of the several possible suspects, one of them belongs to an ethnicity notorious for violent behavior and extremist beliefs. The authorities ...
5
votes
1answer
159 views
Which philosopher maintained that virtue ethics, deontology and consequentialism can be reduced to each other?
I remember skimming an article by a female philosopher that argued that each of the three major kinds of ethics can actually be expressed in terms of each other.
2
votes
2answers
348 views
Utilitarianism or Kantianism
Which of these two theories is more accepted or has more support in the field of ethics?
It seems that Kantian ethics holds too stringent of rules and the the Universal Law of Formulation is ...
3
votes
6answers
498 views
Is it morally permissible to jump the queue? Can we prove that it's morally permissible?
Is it morally permissible to jump the queue? The situation is: Ken wanted to take a mini-bus. When he reached the bus stop, he found that his friend was in the first position of the queue. His friend ...
1
vote
1answer
139 views
A fallacious argument by the consequentialist, true or false?
A consequentialist asks
give me an example of an action which is obviously good regardless of its consequences.
You provide such an example (easily done). The consequentialist then argues that
...
3
votes
2answers
135 views
Do consequentialists consider all warring nations to be terrorist states?
Terrorists actively target civilians. Warring nations realize that their actions will lead to collateral damage and yet they proceed with their actions anyways.
Would a consequentialist then ...
4
votes
3answers
607 views
Can someone help me with some arguments and counter-arguments for consequentialism?
I might go into a lot of details but please bear with me.
I am going to give an example of what I want to defend consequentialism against (i.e. I am arguing for consequentialism by first refuting ...
1
vote
0answers
98 views
“To what extent would society break down without a moral code?”
Okay so I'm new here and I hope that this will abide by the rules and everything that the site dictates about questions.
The title of the page is a question I formulated for a school assignment.
I ...
7
votes
3answers
473 views
Are all ethical systems consequentialist?
Quoting Milton Friedman here
"If the end
does not justify the means, what does? But this easy answer does not dispose
of the objection; it simply shows that the objection is not well put. To
...
2
votes
2answers
4k views
What are the arguments against consequentialism?
SEP was of little help, saying in its concluding paragraph that
there still might be no adequate reason to deny consequentialism. We
might have no reason either to deny consequentialism or to ...
2
votes
2answers
418 views
From a consequentialist perspective, how is using slaves to build buildings immoral?
The consequences I can think of:
The slaves die
The slave's death can affect their families financially etc..
The buildings benefit people for many years ahead by providing shelter
To me it seems ...
4
votes
2answers
302 views
Is Rand's Objectivism consequentialist/consequentially motivated?
Background (not looking to get into the weeds on this; just clarifying my viewpoint): It seems to me that the concept of a moral force or law is not really empirically supported. That is, statements ...
3
votes
1answer
912 views
Why are deontological and virtue ethics not viewed as a subset of consequentialism?
Please help me get a better grasp on this topic.
Roughly, it seems that deontological ethics are grounded in consequences of following roles while virtue ethics are grounded in consequences of acting ...
0
votes
3answers
3k views
Is Peter Singer an act or preference utilitarian?
Is his kind of utilitarianism not so "cut and dry" as can be labeled as one? Just the same as, "The lines of distinction between metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics are often blurry" (iep....
4
votes
6answers
2k views
Has/can moral relativism be refuted and what are its implications for a true and useful ethical calculus?
It seems that the existence of moral relativism undermines the entire enterprise of ethics, as it devolves into a bunch of, albeit very smart, people abstractly formulating what is ultimately just a ...
7
votes
1answer
189 views
Temporally stable determination of value in consequentialism
If one is a consequentialist, one at least implicitly makes decisions based on how good or bad the consequences are. As such, you must implicitly have a function f that maps from the set of ...
2
votes
4answers
427 views
Is it ethical to block ads while still consuming content?
When browsing the web, many users block advertisements for a surprisingly wide variety of reasons. The site operator can send the user whatever they want, often a mix of the sought after content, good ...
