Should Our Actions Be Judged by Their Consequences or Our Intentions?

Should our actions be judged by their consequences or our intentions?

Like most philosophical questions, there is no “right” answer to how our actions should be judged. Moral theory will be discussed, with consequentialists arguing that our actions should be based on our consequences and deontologists arguing that is should be our intentions that should be judged. Yet when presented with “real life” issues, the moral theory is just that, theory. Every person has their own stance on moral issues; on some issues they may follow the consequentialist view and believe that it is the consequences of their action that should be judged (Sinnott-Armstrong, W., 2008); on other issues they may believe that it is the intentions of the action that should be judged (Johnson, R., 2010); and then there may be issues that they follow neither standpoint but rather follow religious beliefs. As Rob Lawlor says, “it just depends on your starting point…there is no right answer” (2007).

A moral dilemma society currently faces is the death penalty; is it just for a person to die for their actions. Dissecting this dilemma as a consequentialist, the consequences of the death penalty are the death of a criminal (and thus a community with less criminals), the murder of a human being, and the possibility that the criminal did not commit the crime. However, the consequence of not giving the prisoner capital punishment is staying in prison, taking up space, wasting tax dollars, and the possibility that he will murder another inmate. When considering the consequences of both actions, it is logical that the death penalty should be given and thus be considered moral. A deontologist looks at the intentions of the death penalty: to cause the death of a criminal, to eliminate the possibility of the person committing another crime, to create more room in the prison, and to punish the criminal for their action. Because most deontologists believe that “a killing is a wrong under most circumstances, and its wrongness does not depend on its consequences or its effects on overall welfare” (Sunstein, C. and Vermeule, A., 2005). However, “on average, each execution results in eighteen fewer murders” (Sunstein, C and Vermeule, A., 2005), so the intention of keeping the public safe must be considered. So while the killing of a person is morally wrong, killing one person in order to save the lives eighteen people is the lesser of two evils and thus a deontologist will kill the one person in order to save eighteen. A third person would only consider the fact that the death penalty results in killing a person and thus is wrong because in the Old Testament, God gives Moses then ten commandments, one of which is “thou shall not kill” (Exodus 20:13). While this viewpoint is contains a consequence of the death penalty action, a religious person may not consider the beneficial consequences of the action and therefore cannot