Consequentialism

framework · philosophy · philosophical-tradition

Moral worth of action determined by its outcomes; utilitarianism is its most influential variant.

Consequentialism is the family of normative ethical theories holding that the moral worth of an action is determined exclusively by its consequences — by the goodness of the states of affairs it produces or could be expected to produce. The most influential variant is Utilitarianism (Bentham, Mill), which specifies the relevant good as well-being or welfare aggregated across all affected parties. Consequentialism's distinguishing claims are that no action is intrinsically right or wrong (only outcomes are), that the right action in any situation is the one that produces the best outcomes (or expected outcomes, on standard variants), and that all morally relevant considerations are reducible to outcome evaluation. Contemporary consequentialism encompasses many variants: act- vs rule-consequentialism, hedonistic vs preference vs objective-list theories of welfare, total vs average utilitarianism, agent-neutral vs agent-relative variants, and effective altruism (a contemporary movement applying consequentialist reasoning to charitable giving and career choice). Consequentialism stands in contrast to deontology on whether intrinsic act-features or outcomes are morally fundamental.

Originators

Jeremy Bentham; John Stuart Mill (utilitarianism); contemporary contributors including R.M. Hare, Peter Singer, Derek Parfit high

Year / Decade

Late 18th-19th century (Bentham, Mill); ongoing development through 20th-21st centuries high

Primary sources

Bentham, J. (1789). An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, Mill, J.S. (1861). Utilitarianism, Sidgwick, H. (1874). The Methods of Ethics, Parfit, D. (1984). Reasons and Persons high

Core components

Outcomes as exclusively morally relevant
Maximization principle (best expected outcome)
Distinction between act- and rule-consequentialism
Theory of the good (hedonistic, preference, objective-list welfare)
Total vs average aggregation
Agent-neutral vs agent-relative
Connection to expected utility theory
Effective altruism as contemporary applied consequentialism
Distinction from deontology and virtue ethics

Primary use case

Normative ethical theory; policy analysis and cost-benefit analysis; bioethics including triage and resource allocation; effective altruism movement and charitable-giving evaluation; foundation for some economic frameworks (welfare economics); applied ethics across domains.

Common criticisms

Demandingness objection: consequentialism may require enormous sacrifice for any small marginal good (Singer's drowning child argument)
special obligations problem: consequentialism struggles to account for partial obligations to family, friends, and one's own projects
agent-neutrality conflicts with intuitive integrity (Williams's 'one thought too many')
aggregation problems: consequentialism may justify catastrophic acts to maximize total welfare
calculation tractability — predicting consequences across long causal chains is genuinely hard
rule-consequentialism risks collapsing into either act-consequentialism or deontology
effective altruism has drawn substantial recent critique for both technical (longtermism) and applied (FTX/SBF) reasons.

Lineage

Parent of: Utilitarianism
Siblings: Deontology, Virtue Ethics, Contractualism, Utilitarianism