Digest of terms

consequentialist

those forms of ethical theory and moral reasoning which are especially concerned with the outcomes which follow from particular actions, eg utilitarianism. These are deemed to be the true indicators of moral worth, far more than are high-minded references to sincerity of intention and motive. Such appeals, it is argued, are little more than rhetorical cant which is exposed as such in the face of real human suffering which could have been averted by decisive action.