Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- INTRODUCTION
- I RATIONALITY AND MORALITY
- II WELFARE AND CONSEQUENCES
- 7 Utilitarianism and Consequentialism
- 8 Welfare
- 9 Efficiency
- III LIBERTY, RIGHTS, EQUALITY, AND JUSTICE
- IV MORAL MATHEMATICS
- CONCLUSIONS
- Appendix: How Could Ethics Matter to Economics?
- Glossary
- References
- Index
7 - Utilitarianism and Consequentialism
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 July 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- INTRODUCTION
- I RATIONALITY AND MORALITY
- II WELFARE AND CONSEQUENCES
- 7 Utilitarianism and Consequentialism
- 8 Welfare
- 9 Efficiency
- III LIBERTY, RIGHTS, EQUALITY, AND JUSTICE
- IV MORAL MATHEMATICS
- CONCLUSIONS
- Appendix: How Could Ethics Matter to Economics?
- Glossary
- References
- Index
Summary
Consequentialism is the doctrine that one should judge things morally by their intrinsic value and the value of their consequences. It specifies a particular structure for ethics. In a consequentialist framework one must first decide what is intrinsically valuable. Questions of intrinsic value are not necessarily the most important moral questions, but they must be answered first because everything else depends on their answers. Then one assesses actions, policies, and institutions in terms of their “results” – that is, their own value and the value of their consequences. As we shall see, welfare economics presupposes a consequentialist moral theory.
In particular, a consequentialist takes an action, policy, or institution to be morally right or permissible if its results are no worse on the whole than the results of any alternative. If the results of a particular policy are better than those of any alternative, then the policy is morally obligatory. Whether a policy or action is right or wrong depends both on how things will be if it is implemented and how things will be if any alternative is implemented. Appraisal is always comparative. The right thing to do may have very bad consequences when the consequences of the alternatives are even worse, and even a policy with terrific results is impermissible if there is an alternative with better results.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Economic Analysis, Moral Philosophy and Public Policy , pp. 99 - 117Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006