Consequentialist Ethics
See the articles “Consequentialism” in the
- Wikipedia Encyclopedia, URL=<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consequentialism>.
- Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, URL=<http://www.iep.utm.edu/conseque/>.
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, URL=<http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consequentialism/>.
It is in the area of Consequentialist Ethics that the difference between the Social and the Personal conception of Ethics really becomes obvious. Deontological Ethics is rule-based. And it is only in the underlying justification of the various rules, and the answers offered to the challenge of “Why be Moral?”, that the distinction between a Social versus a Personal conception of morality becomes evident. But all Consequentialist theories of Ethics make that distinction plain. The social conception of Ethics means that the “good” consequences are those that benefit the society in general. Whereas the personal conception of Ethics means that the “good” consequences are those that benefit the individual specifically.
Hence the division of Consequentialist Ethical theories into Social and Personal theories:
Social Ethics
(i) Classic Utilitarianism
(ii) Welfare Utilitarianism
Personal Ethics
(i) Ethical Egoism
(ii) Eudemonism
(iii) Evolutionary Ethics