Description
Consequentialism is a major moral theory in contemporary philosophy: it is the view that the only thing that matters when making moral decisions is the outcome of those decisions. Consequentialists hold that to morally assess an act, we must first evaluate and rank the various ways that things could turn out depending on whether it or some alternative act is performed. Whether we should perform that act thus depends on how its outcome ranks relative to those of its alternatives. Consequentialism rivals deontology, contractualism, and virtue ethics, but, more importantly, it has influenced contemporary moral philosophy such that the consequentialist/non-consequentialist distinction is one of the most central in normative ethics. After all, every plausible moral theory must concede that the goodness of an act's consequences is something that matters, even if it's not the only thing that matters. Thus, all plausible moral theories will accept that both 1) an act's producing good consequences constitutes a moral reason to perform it, and 2) the better its consequences, the more of a moral reason there is to perform it. In this way, much of consequentialist ethical theory is important for normative ethics in general.This Oxford Handbook contains thirty-two previously unpublished contributions by top moral philosophers examining the current state of play in consequentialism and pointing to new directions for future research. The volume is organized into four major sections: foundational issues; objections to consequentialism; its forms and limits; and consequentialism's implications for policy, practice, and social reform.
Table of Contents
Contents1. Introduction, Douglas W. PortmoreI. Foundational Issues2. Consequentializing, Paul Hurley3. Relativized Rankings, Matthew Hammerton4. Fault Lines in Ethical Theory, Shyam Nair5. Consequences, Dale Dorsey6. Alternatives, Holly M. Smith7. Actualism, Possibilism, and the Nature of Consequentialism, Yishai Cohen and Travis Timmerman8. Consequentialism, Blame, and Moral Responsibility, Elinor Mason9. Consequentialism and Reasons for Action, Christopher Woodard10. What should a consequentialist promote?, Katarzyna de Lazari-RadekII. Objections11. Understanding the Demandingness Objection, David Sobel12. Consequentialism and Partiality, Diana Jeske13. Must I Benefit Myself?, Michael Cholbi14. Consequentialism and Supererogation, Alfred Archer15. Consequentialism and Promises, Alida Liberman16. Consequentialism, Ignorance, and Uncertainty, Krister Bykvist17. Consequentialism and Action Guidingness, Frank Jackson18. Consequentialism and Indeterminacy, Caspar Hare19. Value Comparability, Alastair Norcross20. Consequentialism, the Separateness of Persons, and Aggregation, David Brink21. The Alienation Objection to Consequentialism, Barry Maguire and Calvin BakerIII. Forms and Limits22. Global Consequentialism, Hilary Greaves23. Rule Consequentialism, Brad Hooker24. Consequentialism, Virtue, and Character, Julia Driver25. Population Ethics, the Mere Addition Paradox, and the Structure of Consequentialism, Melinda Roberts26. Deontic Pluralism and the Right Amount of Good, Richard Yetter Chappell27. Conflicts and Cooperation in Act Consequentialism, Joseph MendolaIV. Policy, Practice, and Social Reform28. The Science of Effective Altruism, Victor Kumar29. Effective Altruism: A Consequentialist Case Study, Judith Lichtenberg30. Consequentialism and Nonhuman Animals, Tyler M. John and Jeff Sebo31. Public Policy, Consequentialism, the Environment, and Non-Human Animals, Mark Budolfson and Dean Spears32. The Love-Hate Relationships between Feminism and Consequentialism, Samantha Brennan33. Act-Consequentialism and the No-Difference Challenge, Holly Lawford-Smith and William TuckwellBibliographyIndex
