(ethics) The ethical study of morals, duties and rights with an approach that focuses consequences of a particular action or cause.
Used in a Sentence
consequentialism
Definitions, parts of speech, synonyms, and sentence examples for consequentialism.
Editorial note
Do you mean consequentialism in the philosophical sense - as in, to be contrasted with deontology?
Examples16
Definitions2
Parts of speech1
Quick take
(ethics) The ethical study of morals, duties and rights with an approach that focuses consequences of a particular action or cause.
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of consequentialism gathered in one view.
(ethics) The belief that consequences form the basis for any valid moral judgment about an action. Thus, from a consequentialist standpoint, a morally right action is one that produces a good outcome, or consequence.
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for consequentialism.
noun
(ethics) The ethical study of morals, duties and rights with an approach that focuses consequences of a particular action or cause.
noun
(ethics) The belief that consequences form the basis for any valid moral judgment about an action. Thus, from a consequentialist standpoint, a morally right action is one that produces a good outcome, or consequence.
Example sentences
Do you mean consequentialism in the philosophical sense - as in, to be contrasted with deontology?
> Do you mean consequentialism in the philosophical sense - as in, to be contrasted with deontology?
It's just reflective consequentialism, for beings who know that their moment-by-moment decisions are made by untrusted hardware.
The LW threads where consequentialism has been discussed[1] are probably the only way to get a good idea of what I mean by it.
There's even a word for the effects-based moralizing you went through: consequentialism, which most people associate with Mill and Bentham.
And yet, most of them are not consequentialists, and are very resistant to consequentialism.
Read Mill, for an introduction to the basics of consequentialism.
Deciding actions based on consequences is consequentialism, not utilitarianism.
But I'm too cynical a person to ever hope for consequentialism in politics.
Singularity, consequentialism/utilitarianism, and so on are side effects.
What I'm suggesting is a balance between natural rights and consequentialism.
But it is all still ultimately consequentialism.
Quote examples
The "ends justifying the means" is not a fallacy, unless you think Consequentialism is completely wrong[1].
A lot of people might go with consequentialism, which is basically, "The end justifies the means." Utilitarianism is essentially a subset of this.
There are many types of utilitarianism and, more generally, "using the ends to [partly] justify the means" falls more broadly into consequentialism (utilitarianism being a subset of consequentialism.) If we e.g.
In some ways, it seems like software consequentialism fits neatly into Gabriel's "Worse-is-Better" categorization.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use consequentialism in a sentence?
Do you mean consequentialism in the philosophical sense - as in, to be contrasted with deontology?
What does consequentialism mean?
(ethics) The ethical study of morals, duties and rights with an approach that focuses consequences of a particular action or cause.
What part of speech is consequentialism?
consequentialism is commonly used as noun.