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    A Gödelesque argument against being a pure consequentialist
    A Gödelesque argument against being a pure consequentialist
    A Gödelesque argument against being a pure consequentialist
    Ebook18 pages13 minutes

    A Gödelesque argument against being a pure consequentialist

    By Magnus Vinding

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    About this ebook

    This essay presents a case against being a pure consequentialist. Being a pure consequentialist is implausible because it is either an inconsistent position, or it implies an implausibly dogmatic stance toward pure consequentialism itself. Moreover, the case against being a pure consequentialist finds added support from consequentialist considerations, suggesting that we can also create better outcomes by not being pure consequentialists.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMagnus Vinding
    Release dateOct 2, 2024
    ISBN9798227972149
    A Gödelesque argument against being a pure consequentialist
    Author

    Magnus Vinding

    Magnus Vinding is the author of Speciesism: Why It Is Wrong and the Implications of Rejecting It (2015), Reflections on Intelligence (2016), You Are Them (2017), Effective Altruism: How Can We Best Help Others? (2018), Suffering-Focused Ethics: Defense and Implications (2020), Reasoned Politics (2022), and Essays on Suffering-Focused Ethics (2022).He is blogging at magnusvinding.com

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      Book preview

      A Gödelesque argument against being a pure consequentialist - Magnus Vinding

      The basic argument: Pure consequentialism is internally consistent or inconsistent, but implausible to endorse in either case

      There are various ways to formulate the basic argument that I will present against being a pure consequentialist, but what follows is a simple version.

      Pure consequentialism is either internally inconsistent or internally consistent. That is, assuming the normative validity or correctness of pure consequentialism will either imply that pure consequentialism is not normatively valid or correct (in which case it is internally inconsistent), or assuming its normative validity will imply no such contradiction (in which case it is internally consistent). I will focus on each of these options in

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