Consequentialism And Personal Integrity Analysis

Williams’ main critique of consequentialism is that it is too demanding. Moreover, Williams thinks that consequentialism is self-defeating, since its “teleological maximizing structure actually destroys a primary source of value in rational human life” (Powerpoint). This is because in consequentialism, we care only about maximizing the good and minimizing the bad, and not about how this is accomplished. And because of this, argues Williams, consequentialism destroys personal integrity, which plays a fundamental role in human happiness. Furthermore, since integrity plays a fundamental role in human happiness, and given the intrinsic conflict between consequentialism and personal integrity, it follows that consequentialism destroys the very thing
Most people’s lives are structured around long-term goals and/or projects, which allow us to develop corresponding value-systems to these goals/projects. For example, if I decide to dedicate the rest of my life to making my parents happy, this long-term goal/project will end up providing me with a sense of purpose. Moreover, the values that flow from setting and striving to achieve this goal will ultimately fill my existence with a sense of meaning and happiness. Long-term plans and projects allow us to develop an organic sense of what is important (in this case, it is a relationship with my parents); yet the consequentialist doctrine, according to Williams, cannot properly accommodate these things. This is because consequentialism necessitates that we figure out how to maximize the good, regardless of whether or not the action lines up with our own deeply held values. This means that even though it is good to have a long-term goal to make my parents happy, from which I will develop a deep understanding of the importance of family, I am not actually maximizing the most amount of good for the most amount of people; thus, it interferes with the consequentialist doctrine. This is because consequentialism renders us responsible for other people’s long-term goals/projects. We are not just responsible for what we do, or what flows from our own personal goals and projects, we are also responsible for what other people will do as the result of their own goals and projects. As a result, this drastically interferes with our ability to develop and sustain our own long-term goals and/or projects, which are tethered to our deeply held values (as is the case in the scenario in which I dedicate my life to making my parents