Utilitarianism (Consequentialism)
Right action is whatever produces the best overall outcomes; the most useful lens for trade-offs and the most easily abused — every 'greater good' case for a harmful act is consequentialism with a thumb on the scale.
An everyday example
'Laying off the team now saves the company and protects the other 200 jobs' — true or a rationalisation, depending on numbers nobody has run.
What it can cost you
Justifying harm by imagined aggregate benefits; discounting people who do not appear in the calculation.
Warning signs
- The benefit is aggregate and the harm is specific.
- Nobody has quantified the greater good.
One thing to do
When someone argues from consequences, ask for the actual accounting — who gains, who loses, how much, how certain — and who was left out of it.
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