Consequentialism is moral reasoning which holds that the consequences of the actions of an individual form the basis for the judgment or morality of the action. Both ethical egoism and utilitarianism fall under consequentialism since both of them focus on the consequence of action as the basic motivation of the act and the judgment on whether or not the actions should be considered ethical ( MacDonald, 2015). The main difference between ethical egoism and utilitarianism falls on where the actions are directed. In utilitarianism, the focus is on the greater good. In other words, utilitarianism holds the view of maximizing good for the bigger number or most people ( MacDonald, 2015). The moral worth in this school of thought is judged by how much good the action brings to the most people. Moral egoism, on the other hand, is a moral theory which holds that the moral worth of an action is judged by how much good it brings to an individual or self-interest ( MacDonald, 2015). In moral egoism, a good outcome for an individual outweighs the outcome placed on other people. It also holds that the welfare of other people is a side effect which is not as important as the outcome of good for an individual.
This article finds utilitarianism more reasonable than moral egoism since it places the judgment of worth on the greater good for most people. In other words, utilitarianism promotes the virtue of selflessness and emphasizes the positive impact for the majority as opposed to the individual. This moral thought works to ensure that leaders do not grab excessive wealth through corrupt deals and leave the rest of the citizens poor. Moral egoism, on the other hand, would encourage corruption and selfish leadership which would make a country collapse.
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Non-consequentialism is a moral theory which focuses on the moral reasons why an action is done rather than the consequences of the actions ( Carr, 2016). Thus, this moral thought does not support the reasoning behind ‘the end justifies the means.’ Both virtue ethics and deontology fall under non-consequentialism theory. In virtue ethics, the judgment of moral worth comes from the character of an individual and not from the laws or rules set by the society ( Carr, 2016). This is often seen in individuals who do the right thing, in the right manner at the right time. Deontology, on the other hand, is rule-based. In deontology, people choose to do the right thing because everybody is following that particular rule and thus not conforming would lead to chaos or conflicts which are considered unlawful.
This article finds virtue ethics more reasonable since it focuses on the individual's characters and how these characters influence the actions of an individual. Instead of looking for some maxim to guide an individual, the person looks at himself internally and makes decisions on whether or not an action is reasonable ( Carr, 2016). This is particularly important because it makes the individual free to live his life instead of struggling to bend to the stipulated rules which may not be reasonable in all circumstances.
References
Carr, D. (2016). Virtue, character and emotion in people professions: towards a virtue ethics of interpersonal professional conduct. In Towards Professional Wisdom (pp. 113-126). Routledge.
MacDonald, J. B. (2015). Analyzing the Effects of Egoist and Utilitarian Evaluations on Subjects’ Responses to (Un) ethical Salesperson Behavior. In Proceedings of the 2000 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference (pp. 282-287). Springer, Cham.
