Ultimately, the biggest goal of a consequentialist is to maximize happiness by making happiness the goal of their actions. However, the differences in how happiness applies arise in the two forms of the theory: ethical egoism and utilitarianism. Ethical egoism dictates that the best action’s consequences should only benefit the person who performed the action to be considered good; utilitarianism argues that an action is only good if it maximizes the good for everyone and minimizes the bad for everyone. Individually, both versions have their advantages: ethical egoism teaches self-reliance and self-sufficiency, and utilitarianism instructs how to be able to provide good for everybody. Yet, both theories hold their own problems: ethical egoism is easily corruptible in the sense that it’s easy to do things are morally correct for yourself, but it could also lead to actions that would harm others; utilitarianism, while it does try to promote total good, can lead to somewhat nonsensical decisions and might end up being harmful. That is why I can’t agree with consequentialism, it’s too easy to make mistakes with moral judgment and can often lead to making unethical decisions very
Ultimately, the biggest goal of a consequentialist is to maximize happiness by making happiness the goal of their actions. However, the differences in how happiness applies arise in the two forms of the theory: ethical egoism and utilitarianism. Ethical egoism dictates that the best action’s consequences should only benefit the person who performed the action to be considered good; utilitarianism argues that an action is only good if it maximizes the good for everyone and minimizes the bad for everyone. Individually, both versions have their advantages: ethical egoism teaches self-reliance and self-sufficiency, and utilitarianism instructs how to be able to provide good for everybody. Yet, both theories hold their own problems: ethical egoism is easily corruptible in the sense that it’s easy to do things are morally correct for yourself, but it could also lead to actions that would harm others; utilitarianism, while it does try to promote total good, can lead to somewhat nonsensical decisions and might end up being harmful. That is why I can’t agree with consequentialism, it’s too easy to make mistakes with moral judgment and can often lead to making unethical decisions very