Some Classical Consequentialist Ethical Theories

Act Utilitarianism
The right action is the one which, of all the alternatives, brings about the most happiness in the world.

Egoism
The right action for an agent is the one which, of all the alternatives, brings about the most happiness for that agent.

Elitism
The right action for an agent is the one which, of all the alternatives, brings about the most happiness for people, where the happiness of people of type X counts more than the happiness of people of type Y.

Egocentric Consequentialism
The right action for an agent is the one which, of all the alternatives, brings about the most happiness for people, where the happiness of people related to the agent (by friendship or blood or similarity) counts more than the happiness of people less related to the agent.


Richard Lee, rlee@uark.edu, last modified: 22 June 2006