Consequentialism

Consequentialism is a collective term for theories from the field of ethics that assess the moral value of an action based on its consequences . Often, consequentialist positions and attitudes are polemical on the maxim The end justifies the means shortened.

Consequentialist ethics are in contrast to deontological ethics , which judge the actions themselves and not their consequences as obligatory (required), permitted or prohibited, and also in contrast to virtue ethics , in which the character and motivation of the actor are the decisive components.

The concept of consequentialism includes utilitarianism and varieties of ethical egoism . Utilitarianism demands that the consequences of an action should maximize the total benefit of all ethical subjects; ethical egoism asks above all about personal advantage. Depending on how the overall benefit or personal advantage is determined (long or short term, global or local, related to prosperity or self-respect, etc.), there are quite different normative systems.

See also

• Teleological ethics
• teleology
• Ethics of responsibility

Web links

Wiktionary: consequentialism  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

• William Haines:  Entry in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy .
• Walter Sinnott-Armstrong:  Consequentialism. In: Edward N. Zalta (Ed.): Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy .

literature

• Stephen Darwall (Ed.) (2007): Consequentialism . Edited by Malden, Mass .: Blackwell. (= Blackwell readings in philosophy 7). ISBN 978-0-631-23108-0 .
• Brad Hooker: Ideal code, real world: a rule-consequentialist theory of morality . Repr. Oxford, 2009: Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-925657-0 .
• Martin Peterson: The dimensions of consequentialism: ethics, equality, and risk . Cambridge, 2013. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-03303-0 .
• Douglas W. Portmore: Commonsense consequentialism: wherein morality meets rationality . paperback ed. Oxford, 2014. Oxford Univ. Press. (= Oxford moral theory). ISBN 978-0-19-939645-0 .
• Julian Nida-Rümelin : Critique of Consequentialism. Oldenbourg, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-486-56001-8 .
• Samuel Scheffler (Ed.) (1988): Consequentialism and its critics. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. (= Oxford readings in philosophy). ISBN 978-0-19-875088-8 .
• Samuel Scheffler: The rejection of consequentialism: a philosophical investigation of the considerations underlying rival moral conceptions . 1995, reprint. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-823511-8 .
• Marcel Warmt: Consistentism and special duties. Freiburg, Munich. Verlag Karl Alber 2019. ISBN 978-3-495-49071-6 .