PHLA11H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Consequentialism, Contractualism
Document Summary
Our well-being may be important, but we have our own ideas and opinions. You should respect us as independent persons: ties into the lack of individual acknowledgement in utilitarianism. Welfare consequentialism: sympathetically identifying with the well being of each person, together, at once, act as if these individuals were one superperson and you want to make the superperson"s well-being as high as possible. Kantian contractualism: appeals to respect, instead of treating one another as different parts of a superperson, we should identify and respect each person"s individual needs, ideas, opinions, point of views, etc. If there are rules that everybody can agree to, or at least not reject, then these rules embody the ideal of mutual respect. Acting in ways that we could all justify to one another. Facts about individual well-being are not the foundation. Case 1: one of the two effects must happen: choose which results in the least amount of misfortune.
