Equal Consideration of Interests

"Equal consideration of interests" is the name of a moral principle that states that one should both include all affected interests when calculating the rightness of an action and weigh those interests equally.

The principle thus opposes theories that either exclude some interests from the moral calculus or weigh certain interests differently from others. Sir Jeremy Bentham's early 1800s dictum, "each to count for one, and none for more than one" can be considered a formulation of the principle of equal consideration of interests, and a basis for the broader philosophy of utilitarianism. The principle also underlies Peter Singer's views, who is a moral utilitarian that has explicitly adopted it as the foundation of his ethical theory.

If all beings, not just human, are included as having interests that must be considered, then the principle of equal consideration of interests opposes not only racism and sexism, but also speciesism and some forms of nationalism.

Read more about Equal Consideration Of Interests:  Examples, Etymology, Criticisms

Famous quotes containing the words equal and/or interests:

    What a prodigious growth this English race, especially the American branch of it, is having! How soon will it subdue and occupy all the wild parts of this continent and of the islands adjacent. No prophecy, however seemingly extravagant, as to future achievements in this way [is] likely to equal the reality.
    Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)

    I confess what chiefly interests me, in the annals of that war, is the grandeur of spirit exhibited by a few of the Indian chiefs. A nameless Wampanoag who was put to death by the Mohicans, after cruel tortures, was asked by his butchers, during the torture, how he liked the war?—he said, “he found it as sweet as sugar was to Englishmen.”
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)