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Single Idea 6233
[filed under theme 22. Metaethics / C. The Good / 1. Goodness / g. Consequentialism
]
Full Idea
We do not say that he is a good man when, having his hands tied up, he is hindered from doing the mischief he designs; …hence it is by affection merely that a creature is esteemed good or ill, natural or unnatural.
Clarification
'Affections' are any desires or emotions
Gist of Idea
A person isn't good if only tying their hands prevents their mischief, so the affections decide a person's morality
Source
3rd Earl of Shaftesbury (Inquiry Concerning Virtue or Merit [1699], I.II.I)
Book Ref
'British Moralists 1650-1800 Vol. 1', ed/tr. Raphael,D.D. [Hackett 1991], p.172
A Reaction
Note that he more or less equates being morally 'ill' with being 'unnatural'. We tend to reserve 'unnatural' for extreme or perverse crimes. Personally I would place more emphasis on evil judgements, and less on evil feelings.
The
34 ideas
with the same theme
[only good consequences matter in morality]:
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23395
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Mohists desire wealth, population and social order as the best consequences
[Mozi, by Norden]
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1562
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It is right to lie to someone, to get them to take medicine they are reluctant to take
[Anon (Diss)]
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265
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An action is only just if it is performed by someone with a just character and outlook
[Plato]
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109
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Clearly perfect conduct will involve both good intention and good action
[Aristotle]
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5877
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We judge people from their deeds because we cannot see their choices (which matter more)
[Aristotle]
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22555
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The function of good men is to confer benefits
[Aristotle]
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1851
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Good applies to goals, just as truth applies to ideas in the mind
[Aquinas]
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19366
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You can't assess moral actions without referring to the qualities of character that produce them
[Leibniz]
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6233
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A person isn't good if only tying their hands prevents their mischief, so the affections decide a person's morality
[Shaftesbury]
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6246
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My action is not made good by a good effect, if I did not foresee and intend it
[Hutcheson]
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23674
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If an attempted poisoning results in benefits, we still judge the agent a poisoner
[Reid]
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3712
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A good will is not good because of what it achieves
[Kant]
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3725
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The good of an action is in the mind of the doer, not the consequences
[Kant]
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6197
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Morality involves duty and respect for law, not love of the outcome
[Kant]
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3767
|
Motive shows the worth of the agent, but not of the action
[Mill]
|
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2872
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In the earliest phase of human history only consequences mattered
[Nietzsche]
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24094
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Humans are vividly aware of short-term effects, and almost ignorant of the long-term ones
[Nietzsche]
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4509
|
Utilitarians prefer consequences because intentions are unknowable - but so are consequences!
[Nietzsche]
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23529
|
Conduct is not isolated from its effect on the moral code
[Hart,HLA]
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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]
|
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22461
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Good outcomes are not external guides to morality, but a part of virtuous actions
[Foot]
|
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22464
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The idea of a good state of affairs has no role in the thought of Aristotle, Rawls or Scanlon
[Foot]
|
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22457
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If the aim is good outcomes, why are killings worse than deaths?
[Scheffler, by Foot]
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22408
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Consequentialism assumes that situations can be compared
[Williams,B]
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22411
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For a consequentialist massacring 7 million must be better than massacring 7 million and one
[Williams,B]
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4120
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It is an error of consequentialism to think we just aim at certain states of affairs; we also want to act
[Williams,B]
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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]
|
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6698
|
Negative consequences are very hard (and possibly impossible) to assess
[Graham]
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23097
|
What matters for morality is the effects of action, not the psychological causes
[Kekes]
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|
7590
|
Consequentialism emphasises value rather than obligation in morality
[Scruton]
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4337
|
Teenagers are often quite wise about ideals, but rather stupid about consequences
[Hursthouse]
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6853
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Consequentialism wrongly assumes a clear line between an act and its consequences
[Crisp,R]
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