Single Idea 22461

[catalogued under 22. Metaethics / C. The Good / 1. Goodness / g. Consequentialism]

Full Idea

It is not that maximum welfare or 'the best outcome' stands outside morality as it foundation and arbiter, but rather that it appears within morality as the end of one of the virtues.

Gist of Idea

Good outcomes are not external guides to morality, but a part of virtuous actions

Source

Philippa Foot (Utilitarianism and the Virtues [1985], p.73)

Book Reference

Foot,Philippa: 'Moral Dilemmas' [OUP 2002], p.73


A Reaction

She cites justice and benevolence as aiming at different (and even conflicting) outcomes. I'm not sure about her distinction between 'outside' and 'within' morality. I suppose a virtuously created end is a moral end, unlike mere good states of affairs.

Related Idea

Idea 22460 Why might we think that a state of affairs can be morally good or bad? [Foot]