Consequences

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Child facing the consequences of his actions. He knows what he did.

In utilitarianism, which is also known as consequentialism, the results of our actions upon the emotions and well-being of others is the source of all ethical consideration.

Technology Changes Consequences

Modern technology has changed the consequences involved in many moral traditions, resulting in cognitive dissonance when people are no longer able to see the harm in things that they were taught were mortal sins. The quintessential example is sex before marriage, which was like playing Russian Roulette before the birth control pill, penicillin, and legalized abortion. Those technologies have now made unwanted pregnancy and STDs largely irrelevant to those with adequate sex education.

Anyone whose ethics prioritizes the actual consequences of our actions over its adherence to scripture and tradition must acknowledge that these inventions make sex before marriage less immoral, at the vary least. It could also be argued that it changes the equation to the point where the benefits outweigh the consequences, especially if cultural norms can become more sex positive and slut stigmas subside.

Consequential Videos

There are a lot of specific ways to interpret consequentialism depending on whose consequences you prioritize and other variables. In general, the more universal and inclusive the in-group, and the more universally applicable the rules, the better the consequentialist ethics.

The Map of Consequentialism


How many net afterlife points do you get from watching this video? You gain some points with the ethical insight, but then there's the carbon emissions caused by your computer and the YouTube servers, and the poor exploited people who had to mine the raw materials used in their circuit boards, and the toxic electronic waste they will one day become. You just can't win!

The Good Place: Consequentialism and the complexity of life


Johnny Cash - God's Gonna Cut You Down


Camila Cabello - Consequences