more from this thinker     |     more from this text

Single Idea 3767

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

Full Idea

The motive has nothing to do with the morality of the action, though much with the worth of the agent.

Gist of Idea

Motive shows the worth of the agent, but not of the action

Source

John Stuart Mill (Utilitarianism [1861], Ch.2)

Book Ref

Mill,John Stuart: 'Utilitarianism (including On Liberty etc)', ed/tr. Warnock,Mary [Fontana 1962], p.270

A Reaction

I think it is an error to try to separate these too sharply. Morality can't be purely consequential, because it would make earthquakes immoral. Actions indicate the worth of agents.

The 34 ideas with the same theme [only good consequences matter in morality]:

23395 Mohists desire wealth, population and social order as the best consequences [Mozi, by Norden]
1562 It is right to lie to someone, to get them to take medicine they are reluctant to take [Anon (Diss)]
265 An action is only just if it is performed by someone with a just character and outlook [Plato]
109 Clearly perfect conduct will involve both good intention and good action [Aristotle]
5877 We judge people from their deeds because we cannot see their choices (which matter more) [Aristotle]
22555 The function of good men is to confer benefits [Aristotle]
1851 Good applies to goals, just as truth applies to ideas in the mind [Aquinas]
19366 You can't assess moral actions without referring to the qualities of character that produce them [Leibniz]
6233 A person isn't good if only tying their hands prevents their mischief, so the affections decide a person's morality [Shaftesbury]
6246 My action is not made good by a good effect, if I did not foresee and intend it [Hutcheson]
23674 If an attempted poisoning results in benefits, we still judge the agent a poisoner [Reid]
3712 A good will is not good because of what it achieves [Kant]
3725 The good of an action is in the mind of the doer, not the consequences [Kant]
6197 Morality involves duty and respect for law, not love of the outcome [Kant]
3767 Motive shows the worth of the agent, but not of the action [Mill]
2872 In the earliest phase of human history only consequences mattered [Nietzsche]
24094 Humans are vividly aware of short-term effects, and almost ignorant of the long-term ones [Nietzsche]
4509 Utilitarians prefer consequences because intentions are unknowable - but so are consequences! [Nietzsche]
23529 Conduct is not isolated from its effect on the moral code [Hart,HLA]
22458 Consequentialists can hurt the innocent in order to prevent further wickedness [Foot]
22460 Why might we think that a state of affairs can be morally good or bad? [Foot]
22461 Good outcomes are not external guides to morality, but a part of virtuous actions [Foot]
22464 The idea of a good state of affairs has no role in the thought of Aristotle, Rawls or Scanlon [Foot]
22457 If the aim is good outcomes, why are killings worse than deaths? [Scheffler, by Foot]
22408 Consequentialism assumes that situations can be compared [Williams,B]
22411 For a consequentialist massacring 7 million must be better than massacring 7 million and one [Williams,B]
4120 It is an error of consequentialism to think we just aim at certain states of affairs; we also want to act [Williams,B]
5122 Maybe consequentialism is a critique of ordinary morality, rather than describing it [Harman]
3785 You can't separate acts from the people performing them [Glover]
6698 Negative consequences are very hard (and possibly impossible) to assess [Graham]
23097 What matters for morality is the effects of action, not the psychological causes [Kekes]
7590 Consequentialism emphasises value rather than obligation in morality [Scruton]
4337 Teenagers are often quite wise about ideals, but rather stupid about consequences [Hursthouse]
6853 Consequentialism wrongly assumes a clear line between an act and its consequences [Crisp,R]