Consequentialism and Utilitarianism are two ethical theories which are closely related and share so many of the same tenets that they are often treated interchangeably. The basic difference is consequentialism does not specify a desired outcome, while utilitarianism specifies good as the desired outcome.
Do you remember the movie ‘Sophie’s Choice’ where Kate Winslet was asked by Nazi officers to choose between her two kids or else both will be killed . This movie is a classic example of consequentialism. Boi! can I ever get the scenes out of my head .
Anyway, Let’s dive right in:
Table of Contents
CONSEQUENTIALISM
What is Consequentialism?
Consequentialism is an ethical theory that judges whether or not something is right by what its consequences are. E.g.: Lying is bad but not if you’re doing it to save someone’s life. Consequentialism holds that what matters the most from a moral point of view, is what consequences result from our actions.
Types of Consequentialism
Consequentialism is divided in different ways depending on how it is applied and the desired outcome. We can apply consequentialism to a decision by using its two forms: act consequentialism or rule consequentialism:-
- Act consequentialism examines each act individually and determines the right act to be the one that produces the greatest number of consequences consistent with the desired outcome. (Frost)
- Rule consequentialism determines the morally right action to be the one that follows a rule whose observance would produce the desired outcome. (Sinott-Armstrong)
Division on the basis of desired outcomes:-
- Utilitarianism: creating the most good for the most people
- Egoism: creating the most good for one’s self
- Hedonism: something is “good” if the consequence maximize pleasure or minimize pain.
Problems with consequentialism
- Applying consequentialist theory to a decision can be time-consuming and complicated in actual practice. In the ideal case, all consequences are identified and accounted but that’s not the case with real-time decision-making
- It is difficult, or even impossible, to know what the result of an action will be ahead of time. No one can know the future with certainty.
- Observer or agent limitation: Ideal case is a completely unbiased ethical agent weighing all possible consequences with equity and neutrality, that’s not the case in real life. We’re mostly partial toward our friends, family and ourselves.
UTILITARIANISM
What is Utilitarianism?
Utilitarianism is a consequentialist moral theory focused on maximizing the overall good. Utilitarianism holds that the most ethical choice is the one that will produce the greatest good for the greatest number of people. The moral framework used to justify military force or war!
Now imagine, a hospital has 4 people who needs organ transplants to live: a heart, lungs, a kidney, and a liver. If a healthy person walkss into the hospital, his organs could be harvested to save four lives at the expense of one life. This is the greatest good for the greatest number. But still wrong.
Therefore we can say that utilitarianism maybe the most reason-based approach to determining right and wrong, it still has obvious limitations
Problems with Utilitarianism
- First, utilitarianism can justify making decisions that violate a person’s human rights. What may be considered good for some people can violate rights of others. Like in above organ transplantation example.
- We cannot predict the future, it’s difficult to know with certainty whether the consequences of our actions will be good or bad. This is one of the limitations of utilitarianism
- Another problem with utilitarianism is that it requires an impartial decision maker. The famous train dilemma illustrates the impartiality problem. i.e. Suppose you can save a trainload of people heading for a collapsed bridge by pulling a switch to re-route the train. In doing so, your wife and children will certainly die because they are in the path of the train if it takes the alternate route. Many will not knowingly sacrifice their family for strangers. But utilitarianism forces the decision maker to weigh the overall good. Depending on the number of people on the train one may have to sacrifice the family.