HSCI 319W Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Consequentialism, Deontological Ethics, Jeremy Bentham
28 Feb 2020
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Consequentialism is a moral theory that states that the moral value of an action is determined by consequences: moral value includes being right, wrong, permissible, obligatory and supererogatory. Look only to the consequences of the available actions. The right thing to do = best consequences. The wrong thing to do = fail to bring about the best consequences: utilitarianism is another version that states that what makes a set consequences god is that it maximizes utility . Vaccination: utility translates to pleasure, happiness and freedom from pain. Deontology claims that moral value can be independent of consequences. Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do. On the one hand the standard of right and wrong, on the other the chain of causes and effects, are fastened to their throne.
