ABSTRACT
When one considers ethics in terms of duties, there is no concern for the outcomes or the consequences. Duties approach to ethics places strict limits on deceptive communication, the approach based on consequences seems more flexible. The chapter explores the consequences, utilitarianism and egalitarianism. In utilitarianism, the ethical or right action is the one that results in the greatest good for the greatest number. There is a certain mathematical logic to utilitarianism, since one should be able to count and total the benefits versus the costs and calculate the number of people affected. The Englishman considered the founder of utilitarianism, Jeremy Bentham, in fact presented his theory in just this way. Utilitarians answer the question, about the end justifying the means, by calculating the end in terms of how much total, overall happiness, for how many people, the means bring about. The utilitarian principle of ethics aggregates or totals the interests of all individuals to determine right and wrong.
