Purposive Ethics

Purposive Ethics presents a comprehensive moral theory that is a species of Preference Utilitarianism, with the difference that whilst Preference Utilitarianism relies upon unproven assumptions such as that ‘we ought to do whatever is good’ and ‘good means whatever are our preferences (or whatever is in our interests)’, Purposive Ethics is more solidly built upon a combination of valid arguments with, ultimately, unconditionally true premises. Its starting point is the Intentional Explanation, attributable to John Elster, and from which it proceeds to the basic Intentional Obligation Argument. This is developed into a final, Societal, version of the argument. The conclusion of this argument is that Society ought to maximise the lifetime opportunities for members of society to achieve their chosen purposes. From this Societal Purpose, and using straightforward cause and effect analyses, a Society Model is constructed, having some 280 odd factors, some 80 of which are specific moral obligations on Society. Also embedded in the Society Model are individual moral obligations and sets of human and animal rights. The notion of free will underpins moral theories in general as well as the directly related subject of retributive justice. Accordingly there is a chapter in Purposive Ethics devoted to this topic. Purposive Ethics represents a unifying moral theory, incorporating elements of consequentialist, Kantian and liberal egalitarian theories, with the added advantage that all conclusions of the theory are traceable back to the starting point through valid arguments with true premises.