Collective Consequentialism

Sammanfattning: Any plausible consequentialist theory should fulfill the following intuitions: (a) if an agent satisfies the theory she should produce the best possible consequences she can in that situation, (b) if all agents satisfy the theory they should produce the best possible consequences as a group, and (c) all agents should, in fact, be able to satisfy the theory. This thesis shows that while act-, rule- and cooperative consequentialism each fails to fulfill at least one of these intuitions, generalized act-consequentialism is successful by directing itself to both collective and individual agents. It is further argued that these collectives act only in a weak sense, according to which they need not have the ability to act intentionally, or to entertain beliefs or desires. This opens up the possibility for a new theory, collective consequentialism, which directs itself only to the collective agent constituted by all other agents.