Consequentialism / Utilitarianism
The rightness of an act is determined solely by the goodness of the outcomes it produces.
What it claims
Consequentialism holds that the rightness or wrongness of acts, rules, and institutions is determined solely by the value of the states of affairs they bring about. Its most influential form, utilitarianism, specifies that value as welfare or happiness, and adds impartiality: no one's happiness counts for more than anyone else's. Consequentialism denies two things: that there are types of action forbidden or required in themselves regardless of outcome, and that I may give special weight to my own projects or to those close to me.
Nearby positions
Goes together with
Opposed to
Key thinkers
Jeremy Bentham · John Stuart Mill · Henry Sidgwick · Peter Singer · R. M. Hare