How thinking about character and utilitarianism might lead to rethinking the character of utilitarianism

Abstract

Character utilitarianism, an attempt to reconcile utilitarianism’s emphasis on outcomes with concerns about the role of character in morality, faces difficulties in accommodating both the special value of good character and the role of character in determining what is morally right. Motive utilitarianism similarly cannot satisfactorily relate motives to right action. Valoric utilitarianism, a nondeontic utilitarian theory that evaluates everything, including motives and characters, directly in terms of nonmoral value realized, can avoid these problems. It can recognize the intrinsic value of good character while allowing only indirect and limited significance to character in determining what is morally right. By providing a comprehensive and systematic valoric utilitarian account of rightness, goodness, and other species of moral evaluation, it offers a promising route for developing a reconstructed utilitarianism that addresses concerns about character. – AI-generated abstract.