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Ethics: Theory and Practice
Jacques P. Thiroux
Keith W. Krasemann
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Chapter Two
Consequentialist (Teleological)
Theories of Morality
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Two Viewpoints of Morality
• Consequentialist (teleological)
– Morality is based on or concerned with
consequences
• Nonconsequentialist (deontological)
– Morality is not based on or concerned with
consequences
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Two Major Consequentialist
Ethical Theories
• Ethical Egoism
• Utilitarianism
– Both theories agree that human beings ought to
behave in ways that will bring about good
consequences
– The theories disagree on who should benefit from
these consequences
• Ethical egoism  act in self-interest
• Utilitarianism  act for the interests of all
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Psychological Egoism
• Psychological egoism is not an ethical theory
but a descriptive or scientific theory having to
do with egoism
• Two forms:
– Strong form: people always act in their own selfinterest
– Weaker form: people often, but not always, act in
their own self-interest
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Psychological Egoism
• In its strong form
– Does not refute morality
• In its weaker form
– Does not provide a rational foundation for ethical
egoism
• What about circumstances in which people do
unselfish things, even though they do not
want to do them?
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Ethical Egoism
• Ethical egoism is a philosophical-normative,
prescriptive theory
• Three forms:
– The individual form (everyone ought to act in my
self-interest)
– The personal form (I ought to act in my own selfinterest, but make no claims on what others
should do)
– The universal form (everyone should always act in
his or her own self-interest)
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Problems with Universal
Ethical Egoism
• Universal ethical egoism is the theory most
commonly presented, but still has problems
• Inconsistency
– It is unclear whose self-interest should be satisfied
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Problems with Universal
Ethical Egoism
• What is Meant by Everyone
– The term “everyone” is unclear
– Everyone’s interests create conflicts and
inconsistencies
• Difficulty in Giving Moral Advice
– It is difficult to determine how to give moral
advice
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Problems with Universal
Ethical Egoism
• Blurring the Moral and Nonmoral Uses of
Ought and Should
– Supporters of egoism tend to blur the moral and
nonmoral uses of ought and should
– This makes universal egoism highly impractical
and, at worst, creates conflicts and inconsistencies
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Problems with Universal
Ethical Egoism
• Inconsistent with Helping Professions
– Ethical egoism in any form does not provide the
proper ethical basis for people in helping
professions
– Some people in helping professions do so out of
self-interest
– Others do so to help others
– A highly self-interested attitude would not serve
one well in a helping profession
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Advantages of Universal
Ethical Egoism
• It is easier to determine self-interest
– It is easier for individuals to determine what their
own interests are
• It encourages individual freedom and
responsibility
• It works when people operate in limited
spheres, isolated from one another, which
minimizes conflict
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Limitations Of Universal
Ethical Egoism
• It offers no consistent method of resolving
conflicts of self-interests
– While individuals operate in limited spheres, it is
much easier to maintain self-interest
– As soon as individual or limited spheres start to
overlap, individual self-interests will start to
conflict
– Some principle of justice or compromise must be
brought in to address that conflict
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Ayn Rand’s Rational Ethical Egoism
• Ayn Rand was the foremost exponent of
universal ethical egoism (which she called
rational ethical egoism)
– Self-interests of rational human beings, by virtue
of their being rational, will never conflict
• That theory does not address the very real
conflicts that do actually arise in our crowded
and interdependent societies
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Utilitarianism
• Utilitarianism maintains that everyone should
perform that act or follow that moral rule
which will bring about the greatest good (or
happiness) for everyone concerned
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Act Utilitarianism
• Act utilitarianism says that everyone should
perform that act which will bring about the
greatest amount of good over bad for
everyone affected by the act
– One cannot establish rules in advance to cover all
situations and people because they are all
different
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Criticisms of Act Utilitarianism
• It is difficult to determine the consequences
for others
– What may be a good consequences for you may
not be equally, or at all, good for another
– How are you to tell unless you can ask other
people what would be good for them?
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Criticisms of Act Utilitarianism
• It is impractical to have to begin anew for each
situation and to have to decide what would be
moral for that situation
– Is each act and each person completely and
uniquely different?
– An act utilitarian might argue that there are many
similarities among people and their behaviors that
would justify the laying down of certain rules
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Criticisms of Act Utilitarianism
• It is difficult to educate the young or
uninitiated in acting morally without rules or
guides to follow
– The only guide would be: Each person must assess
what would be the greatest good consequences of
each act for each situation that arises
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Rule Utilitarianism
• Rule utilitarianism states that everyone
always should follow the rules that will bring
the greatest number of good consequences
for all concerned
– There are enough similar human motives, actions,
and situations to justify setting up rules that will
apply to all human beings and all situations
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Criticisms of Rule Utilitarianism
• It is difficult to determine consequences for
others
• It would be difficult to be sure that a rule can
be established to cover the diversity of human
beings, which will truly and always bring about
the greatest good for all
• It is difficult to educate the young and
uninitiated
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Cost-Benefit Analysis
• Creates problems for utilitarianism:
– Danger of trying to determine the social worth of
individuals
– The greatest good is often interpreted as the
“greatest good of the majority,” with possible
immoral consequences to the minority
– Does even a good end justify any means used to
attain it, or should we also consider our means
and motives?
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Difficulty with Consequentialist Theories
in General
• Consequentialist theories demand that we
discover and determine all of the
consequences of our actions or rules
– That is virtually impossible
• Do consequences or ends constitute all of
morality?
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Care Ethics
• Established by Carol Gilligan, sometimes called
“feminist ethics”
• There are fundamental differences between
men and women:
– Men’s moral attitudes have to do with justice,
rights, competition, being independent, and living
by the rules
– Women’s moral attitudes have to do with
generosity, harmony, reconciliation, and working
to maintain close relationships
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Criticisms of Gilligan’s Theory
• Gilligan’s theory raises “female values” over
“male values”
• It replaces one unfair system with another
• The theory seems to prescribe more
traditional gender roles to men and women
– I.e. Men are most concerned with justice, so only
men should be judges
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