For a utilitarian, is a lie morally equivalent to a mistake?












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As far as I know, utilitarians consider that only the consequences should be considered as the calculation of the morality of an action.



Since a mistake and a lie differ only in their intent, are they equivalent according to this philosophy?










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    As far as I know, utilitarians consider that only the consequences should be considered as the calculation of the morality of an action.



    Since a mistake and a lie differ only in their intent, are they equivalent according to this philosophy?










    share|improve this question







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      8












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      As far as I know, utilitarians consider that only the consequences should be considered as the calculation of the morality of an action.



      Since a mistake and a lie differ only in their intent, are they equivalent according to this philosophy?










      share|improve this question







      New contributor




      Blincer is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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      As far as I know, utilitarians consider that only the consequences should be considered as the calculation of the morality of an action.



      Since a mistake and a lie differ only in their intent, are they equivalent according to this philosophy?







      ethics utilitarianism






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      asked yesterday









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          3 Answers
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          1














          The evaluation of such a thing looks different under different utilitarian approaches.



          Act utilitarianism




          Act utilitarianism is a utilitarian theory of ethics which states that a person's act is morally right if and only if it produces the best possible results in that specific situation.




          Source: Wikipedia



          So the first thing that's important to understand is that under this approach an act utilitarian will consider certain lies - those that result in more happiness than not saying the lie - morally a good thing.



          An example of this would be:




          Thomas has stolen a thousand dollar from his millionaire friend. His friend asks "You are my friend, I trust you 100%, did you steal that money?". Thomas - an act utilitarian - confidently answers he did not, as telling the truth would make both him and his friend unhappy.




          This brings up back to your original question where a lie can be morally good or bad in the same way a mistake can be.



          Rule utilitarianism




          Rule utilitarianism is a form of utilitarianism that says an action is right as it conforms to a rule that leads to the greatest good, or that "the rightness or wrongness of a particular action is a function of the correctness of the rule of which it is an instance".




          Source: Wikipedia



          Under this philosophical approach the main question is about how the rules are defined. It's easily conceivable that a rule utilitarian would thus take the approach that "on average" the long term effect of lies makes people unhappy, and thus lies - as a rule - are morally wrong.



          Obviously in that case there is a strong distinction between a lie and a mistake as rules are considered an abstraction which ...




          Rule utilitarians argue that following rules that tend to lead to the greatest good will have better consequences overall than allowing exceptions to be made in individual instances, even if better consequences can be demonstrated in those instances




          Source: Wikipedia





          And beyond those two there are of course countless of other variants of utilitarianism, so read up on those as well.





          share





























            14














            Since utilitarianism is meant for people who are not all-knowing, only the foreseeable consequences count. And a mistake and a lie do not differ only in intent, they also differ in what the person knows, and, therefore, can foresee.






            share|improve this answer





























              0














              Depends on what you mean by "moral equivalence". If you mean that the consequences are equivalent, then yes, they are the same, but this is independent of utilitarianism. If you mean "both are bad", then they are not equivalent -- to an actor with imperfect information, what in hindsight is shown to be a mistake may have been a perfectly rational, ethical decision when it was made with the information then available to the actor.






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                3 Answers
                3






                active

                oldest

                votes








                3 Answers
                3






                active

                oldest

                votes









                active

                oldest

                votes






                active

                oldest

                votes









                1














                The evaluation of such a thing looks different under different utilitarian approaches.



                Act utilitarianism




                Act utilitarianism is a utilitarian theory of ethics which states that a person's act is morally right if and only if it produces the best possible results in that specific situation.




                Source: Wikipedia



                So the first thing that's important to understand is that under this approach an act utilitarian will consider certain lies - those that result in more happiness than not saying the lie - morally a good thing.



                An example of this would be:




                Thomas has stolen a thousand dollar from his millionaire friend. His friend asks "You are my friend, I trust you 100%, did you steal that money?". Thomas - an act utilitarian - confidently answers he did not, as telling the truth would make both him and his friend unhappy.




                This brings up back to your original question where a lie can be morally good or bad in the same way a mistake can be.



                Rule utilitarianism




                Rule utilitarianism is a form of utilitarianism that says an action is right as it conforms to a rule that leads to the greatest good, or that "the rightness or wrongness of a particular action is a function of the correctness of the rule of which it is an instance".




                Source: Wikipedia



                Under this philosophical approach the main question is about how the rules are defined. It's easily conceivable that a rule utilitarian would thus take the approach that "on average" the long term effect of lies makes people unhappy, and thus lies - as a rule - are morally wrong.



                Obviously in that case there is a strong distinction between a lie and a mistake as rules are considered an abstraction which ...




                Rule utilitarians argue that following rules that tend to lead to the greatest good will have better consequences overall than allowing exceptions to be made in individual instances, even if better consequences can be demonstrated in those instances




                Source: Wikipedia





                And beyond those two there are of course countless of other variants of utilitarianism, so read up on those as well.





                share


























                  1














                  The evaluation of such a thing looks different under different utilitarian approaches.



                  Act utilitarianism




                  Act utilitarianism is a utilitarian theory of ethics which states that a person's act is morally right if and only if it produces the best possible results in that specific situation.




                  Source: Wikipedia



                  So the first thing that's important to understand is that under this approach an act utilitarian will consider certain lies - those that result in more happiness than not saying the lie - morally a good thing.



                  An example of this would be:




                  Thomas has stolen a thousand dollar from his millionaire friend. His friend asks "You are my friend, I trust you 100%, did you steal that money?". Thomas - an act utilitarian - confidently answers he did not, as telling the truth would make both him and his friend unhappy.




                  This brings up back to your original question where a lie can be morally good or bad in the same way a mistake can be.



                  Rule utilitarianism




                  Rule utilitarianism is a form of utilitarianism that says an action is right as it conforms to a rule that leads to the greatest good, or that "the rightness or wrongness of a particular action is a function of the correctness of the rule of which it is an instance".




                  Source: Wikipedia



                  Under this philosophical approach the main question is about how the rules are defined. It's easily conceivable that a rule utilitarian would thus take the approach that "on average" the long term effect of lies makes people unhappy, and thus lies - as a rule - are morally wrong.



                  Obviously in that case there is a strong distinction between a lie and a mistake as rules are considered an abstraction which ...




                  Rule utilitarians argue that following rules that tend to lead to the greatest good will have better consequences overall than allowing exceptions to be made in individual instances, even if better consequences can be demonstrated in those instances




                  Source: Wikipedia





                  And beyond those two there are of course countless of other variants of utilitarianism, so read up on those as well.





                  share
























                    1












                    1








                    1






                    The evaluation of such a thing looks different under different utilitarian approaches.



                    Act utilitarianism




                    Act utilitarianism is a utilitarian theory of ethics which states that a person's act is morally right if and only if it produces the best possible results in that specific situation.




                    Source: Wikipedia



                    So the first thing that's important to understand is that under this approach an act utilitarian will consider certain lies - those that result in more happiness than not saying the lie - morally a good thing.



                    An example of this would be:




                    Thomas has stolen a thousand dollar from his millionaire friend. His friend asks "You are my friend, I trust you 100%, did you steal that money?". Thomas - an act utilitarian - confidently answers he did not, as telling the truth would make both him and his friend unhappy.




                    This brings up back to your original question where a lie can be morally good or bad in the same way a mistake can be.



                    Rule utilitarianism




                    Rule utilitarianism is a form of utilitarianism that says an action is right as it conforms to a rule that leads to the greatest good, or that "the rightness or wrongness of a particular action is a function of the correctness of the rule of which it is an instance".




                    Source: Wikipedia



                    Under this philosophical approach the main question is about how the rules are defined. It's easily conceivable that a rule utilitarian would thus take the approach that "on average" the long term effect of lies makes people unhappy, and thus lies - as a rule - are morally wrong.



                    Obviously in that case there is a strong distinction between a lie and a mistake as rules are considered an abstraction which ...




                    Rule utilitarians argue that following rules that tend to lead to the greatest good will have better consequences overall than allowing exceptions to be made in individual instances, even if better consequences can be demonstrated in those instances




                    Source: Wikipedia





                    And beyond those two there are of course countless of other variants of utilitarianism, so read up on those as well.





                    share












                    The evaluation of such a thing looks different under different utilitarian approaches.



                    Act utilitarianism




                    Act utilitarianism is a utilitarian theory of ethics which states that a person's act is morally right if and only if it produces the best possible results in that specific situation.




                    Source: Wikipedia



                    So the first thing that's important to understand is that under this approach an act utilitarian will consider certain lies - those that result in more happiness than not saying the lie - morally a good thing.



                    An example of this would be:




                    Thomas has stolen a thousand dollar from his millionaire friend. His friend asks "You are my friend, I trust you 100%, did you steal that money?". Thomas - an act utilitarian - confidently answers he did not, as telling the truth would make both him and his friend unhappy.




                    This brings up back to your original question where a lie can be morally good or bad in the same way a mistake can be.



                    Rule utilitarianism




                    Rule utilitarianism is a form of utilitarianism that says an action is right as it conforms to a rule that leads to the greatest good, or that "the rightness or wrongness of a particular action is a function of the correctness of the rule of which it is an instance".




                    Source: Wikipedia



                    Under this philosophical approach the main question is about how the rules are defined. It's easily conceivable that a rule utilitarian would thus take the approach that "on average" the long term effect of lies makes people unhappy, and thus lies - as a rule - are morally wrong.



                    Obviously in that case there is a strong distinction between a lie and a mistake as rules are considered an abstraction which ...




                    Rule utilitarians argue that following rules that tend to lead to the greatest good will have better consequences overall than allowing exceptions to be made in individual instances, even if better consequences can be demonstrated in those instances




                    Source: Wikipedia





                    And beyond those two there are of course countless of other variants of utilitarianism, so read up on those as well.






                    share











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                    share










                    answered 6 mins ago









                    David Mulder

                    24118




                    24118























                        14














                        Since utilitarianism is meant for people who are not all-knowing, only the foreseeable consequences count. And a mistake and a lie do not differ only in intent, they also differ in what the person knows, and, therefore, can foresee.






                        share|improve this answer


























                          14














                          Since utilitarianism is meant for people who are not all-knowing, only the foreseeable consequences count. And a mistake and a lie do not differ only in intent, they also differ in what the person knows, and, therefore, can foresee.






                          share|improve this answer
























                            14












                            14








                            14






                            Since utilitarianism is meant for people who are not all-knowing, only the foreseeable consequences count. And a mistake and a lie do not differ only in intent, they also differ in what the person knows, and, therefore, can foresee.






                            share|improve this answer












                            Since utilitarianism is meant for people who are not all-knowing, only the foreseeable consequences count. And a mistake and a lie do not differ only in intent, they also differ in what the person knows, and, therefore, can foresee.







                            share|improve this answer












                            share|improve this answer



                            share|improve this answer










                            answered yesterday









                            Conifold

                            34.9k251137




                            34.9k251137























                                0














                                Depends on what you mean by "moral equivalence". If you mean that the consequences are equivalent, then yes, they are the same, but this is independent of utilitarianism. If you mean "both are bad", then they are not equivalent -- to an actor with imperfect information, what in hindsight is shown to be a mistake may have been a perfectly rational, ethical decision when it was made with the information then available to the actor.






                                share|improve this answer


























                                  0














                                  Depends on what you mean by "moral equivalence". If you mean that the consequences are equivalent, then yes, they are the same, but this is independent of utilitarianism. If you mean "both are bad", then they are not equivalent -- to an actor with imperfect information, what in hindsight is shown to be a mistake may have been a perfectly rational, ethical decision when it was made with the information then available to the actor.






                                  share|improve this answer
























                                    0












                                    0








                                    0






                                    Depends on what you mean by "moral equivalence". If you mean that the consequences are equivalent, then yes, they are the same, but this is independent of utilitarianism. If you mean "both are bad", then they are not equivalent -- to an actor with imperfect information, what in hindsight is shown to be a mistake may have been a perfectly rational, ethical decision when it was made with the information then available to the actor.






                                    share|improve this answer












                                    Depends on what you mean by "moral equivalence". If you mean that the consequences are equivalent, then yes, they are the same, but this is independent of utilitarianism. If you mean "both are bad", then they are not equivalent -- to an actor with imperfect information, what in hindsight is shown to be a mistake may have been a perfectly rational, ethical decision when it was made with the information then available to the actor.







                                    share|improve this answer












                                    share|improve this answer



                                    share|improve this answer










                                    answered 8 hours ago









                                    Abhimanyu Pallavi Sudhir

                                    1368




                                    1368






















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