Consequentialism is an effective moral theory that believes that the consequences of one or another action are the basis for any valid moral judgment. Thus, from the consequentialism’s view point, the action corresponding with morally is one that leads to good consequences. This point of view is mainly expressed in the aphorism the end justifies the means. In order to make the right decision using this theory, one needs to divide the problem into different concepts. It is possible to take into account the types of consequences that are considered the most important, that is, the consequences that count as good (McCombs School of Business, 2023). According to the theory, the correct action is the one that leads to an increase in the positive effect, and the better action is the one that causes an increase in this number. And correlating, the fullness according to consequentialism is the improving of life, which may be the same as being enjoyed with great pleasure, is the ultimate aim.
When making a decision, the theory suggests an action that does more good than harm is always good, while an action that does more harm than good is not good. Therefore, theory in this way can be used to make decisions (Banks, 2019). An example of consequential conduct would be perjury to save the lives of innocent people, even though perjury exposes the witness to government punishment. The most famous variant of consequentialism is utilitarianism. The calculator of the probability of actions that will make people happy is the most used method for this theory (Qizilbash, 2021). Given that the theory considers every person’s pleasure or pain to be the same, regardless of age, wealth, race, etc., utilitarianism is considered a radically egalitarian philosophy.
References
Banks, C. (2019). Criminal justice ethics (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
McCombs School of Business. (2023). Consequentialism – Ethics unwrapped. Ethics Unwrapped. Web.
Qizilbash, M. (2021). On “Consequentialism” and the capability approach. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 1–21. Web.