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Single Idea 4509
[filed under theme 22. Metaethics / C. The Good / 1. Goodness / g. Consequentialism
]
Full Idea
Utilitarians say actions must be judged by consequences, because it is impossible to know the origins. But one only knows the consequences about five steps ahead, and who knows what an action can stimulate, excite, provoke?
Gist of Idea
Utilitarians prefer consequences because intentions are unknowable - but so are consequences!
Source
Friedrich Nietzsche (The Will to Power (notebooks) [1888], §291)
Book Ref
Nietzsche,Friedrich: 'The Will to Power', ed/tr. Kaufmann,W /Hollingdate,R [Vintage 1968], p.164
A Reaction
The utilitarian slogan seems to be 'do your best', but that could apply equally to intentions and consequences. Nietzsche seems to offer nothing to compensate us for our massive ignorance. Nihilism.
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
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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
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Utilitarians prefer consequences because intentions are unknowable - but so are consequences!
[Nietzsche]
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23529
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Conduct is not isolated from its effect on the moral code
[Hart,HLA]
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22458
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Consequentialists can hurt the innocent in order to prevent further wickedness
[Foot]
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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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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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22408
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Consequentialism assumes that situations can be compared
[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
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Maybe consequentialism is a critique of ordinary morality, rather than describing it
[Harman]
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3785
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You can't separate acts from the people performing them
[Glover]
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6698
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Negative consequences are very hard (and possibly impossible) to assess
[Graham]
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23097
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What matters for morality is the effects of action, not the psychological causes
[Kekes]
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7590
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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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