A consequentialist case for rejecting the right

Abstract

Satisficing and maximizing versions of consequentialism have both assumed that rightness is an all-or-nothing property. We argue that this is inimical to the spirit of consequentialism, and that, from the point of view of the consequentialist, actions should be evaluated purely in terms that admit of degree. We consider the suggestion that rightness and wrongness are a matter of degree. We conclude that the consequentialist can make no sense of the concept of wrongness. (edited)