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Moral Moments

Kant By Default (Shameless Commerce Division)

by Joel Marks

My favorite topic in ethics is consequentialism, the theory that our actions should be judged according to their consequences. In two previous columns I have tackled it directly (and indirectly in several others). ‘Showdown’ (Issue 52) was my best effort to that date to show that the consequences of our actions do not determine whether we’ve done the right thing. In ‘Rematch’ (Issue 63) I considered a telling rejoinder by the consequentialist. Now I’ve finally sat down to hash out the whole thing once for all, in my mind and in writing.

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