Consequentialism
Egoism
Utilitarianism
Altruism
Morality = Own interest
An act is right if it promotes
the self interest of an 'agent'
Misconceptions
Hedonistic
Never help others without
self interest.
Psychological
Humans are selfish by nature
True unselfish behavior is
impossible.
Problems
Psychological egoism is not found.
Ethical egoism is not a moral theory
Ignore blatantly wrong things
Clash's with many of the best moral beliefs
Morality = Aggregate interest
An act is only right if it produces the
greatest balance of good over bad
consequences for everyone affected by it.
Philosophers:
Act utilitarianism
Rule utilitarianism
The good of the action depends
on the consequences of the action
Case-by-case basis
The good of an action depends on if
that action follows a rule, which would
lead to good consequences if everybody
followed it.
Utility of Rules
Problems
Workable??
Uncertainty about consequences
Comparison of levels of happiness?
Accuracy and time
The end justifies the means?
Robing hood
Unjust?
Dan River experiment
Useful in an organizational context
Jeremy Bentham
Society is the sum of Individuals
John Stuart Mill
Interest of society
Something is good
if it promotes pleasure
Quantitative and objective approach
Pleasure = Intrinsic value
Everything else has instrumental value
Morality = Other's interest
Organizational context
Clear on goal of moral
decision-making
Clear procedure to
test decisions
Useful to resolve
moral conflict
Results oriented