Consequentialism

Consequentialism refers to the idea in philosophy of ethics that what truly matters in moral/ethical decisions are the consequences of an action, way of thinking, or law. Consequentialism is contrasted with deontology, which states that the worth of a moral decision is not based on the action’s consequences, but the action itself (i.e. some actions have inherent moral worth). Due to the very broad nature of the definition, consequentialism encompasses a large amount of beliefs such as egoism or utilitarianism. The primary critique of consequentialism is that it places too high of an emphasis on the mere consequences of an action. Thus, the phrase “the ends justify the means” is a consequentialist one. The consequentialist may hold that if an individual does a moral action with the proper motive then that would be valuable, but the motive or the act itself have no bearing on the action’s moral standing. The primary concerns of consequentialism generally surround 1. ‘What are good consequences?’ and 2. ‘How do we know the consequences?’ For the first; as was alluded to, there are a plethora of views on what consequences matter and what should be strived for. Hedonists claim pleasure is the highest good, perfectionists state that there are certain states of a life that make it good, and pluralists hold that there is more than one morally valuable action. Maybe actions that have the consequence of maximizing fluffy sheep is the most moral one. For the second question; this question is an epistemological one - as well as another major critique - that wonders how the consequentialist can ‘see’ into the future to see the potential actions of an action. Often, there are factors that are ignored, unknown, or are spontaneous that greatly affect the consequences themselves, which is what the philosopher places great importance on. Perhaps the intended [potential] consequences are what should be valued as opposed to the actual effects - though does this not then mean that the motive matters more than the consequence?