It is also distinguished from virtue ethics, which focuses on the character of the agent rather than on the nature or consequences of the act ( or omission ) itself, and pragmatic ethics which treats morality like science: advancing socially over the course of many lifetimes, such that any moral criterion is subject to revision.

This imperative, of course, is derived from consequential thinking: a better-informed agent is able to bring about better consequences.

The core of the slippery slope argument is that a specific rule or course of action is likely to result in unintended consequences and that these " unintended consequences " are undesirable ( and, typically, worse than either inaction or another course of remediation ).

This criticisms is a consequentialist criticism-interested in consequences or outcomes or results of a course of action-and does not impugn the character or intentions of the one ( s ) offering the " slippery slope " argument ( s ), the basis or bases or concerns underlying the offering of the arguments against a rule or course of action, nor the legitimacy of arguing against any specific rule or course of action.

It was already accepted that it is necessary to use rules to help you choose the right action because the problems of calculating the consequences on each and every occasion would almost certainly result in you frequently choosing something less than the best course of action.

This action is taken to avert a possible German occupation of the islands, which would have had very grave consequences for the course of the Battle of the Atlantic

Descriptive moral relativism is merely the positive or descriptive position that there exist, in fact, fundamental disagreements about the right course of action even when the same facts obtain and the same consequences seem likely to arise.

Reverse course or face the consequences ," Albright said.

France questioned the phrase " serious consequences " and stated repeatedly that any " material breach " found by the inspectors should not automatically lead to war ; instead the UN should pass another resolution deciding on the course of action.

In contrast, some educational establishments such as Sudbury schools believe that students are personally responsible for their acts, and that traditional schools do not permit students to choose their course of action fully ; they do not permit students to embark on the course, once chosen ; and they do not permit students to suffer the consequences of the course, once taken.

Of course, unease about adverse consequences of human actions on nature predates the modern concept of “ environmentalism ".

Of course, there are some areas in which adolescents ’ assertion of autonomy can cause long-term consequences.

Of course, population growth did not come without consequences.

" that in individuals with an established psychotic disorder, cannabinoids can exacerbate symptoms, trigger relapse, and have negative consequences on the course of the illness.

When the decision of such a man is made and his course of action is determined, his faithful subjects must accept it whatever may be the consequences.

Sir Walter Raleigh had little impact on the course of Irish literature, but the time spent in Munster by Edmund Spenser was to have serious consequences both for his own writings and for the future course of cultural development in Ireland.

Of greater importance, however, is the content of those programs, which have had and are having enormous consequences for the American people.

A blow to this phase of the Central's operations would have serious economic consequences not only to the railroad itself, but to the 40,000 people per day who are provided with efficient, reasonably priced transportation in and out of the city.

Nevertheless, with foresight and careful planning, some of the more disruptive and dangerous consequences of social change which have troubled other countries passing through this stage can be escaped.

Although the inner functions of religion are not of direct significance in social organization, they have important indirect consequences.

We have consoled ourselves with the thought that this is a normal human reaction and is one of the consequences of any decision in an adversary proceeding.

Some of these mothers, apparently feeling a desperate urgency, made, on the spur of the moment, commitments, in love and sex, that would have life-long consequences.

Even those who support the intent of the law worry that it might have unintended consequences.

However, Ambrose feared the consequences and prevailed upon the emperor to have the matter determined by a council of the Western bishops.

This can have important consequences when dealing with issues such as consensual sadomasochistic sexual activity, the most notable case being the Operation Spanner case.

He then shows ( quite briefly ) how determinism and free will are compatible notions, and have no bad consequences on ethics or moral life.

Sub Saharan Africa, as an area that felt the consequences of poor governance and was less responsive to globalisation, has seen an increase in poverty while all other areas of the world have seen no change in rates.

Behavioural scientists explain that addicts have a behaviour pattern that may lead to destructive consequences for themselves, their families and society.

Valens, who seems to have sincerely dreaded the possible consequences of a popular outbreak, gave orders within a few weeks for the return of Athanasius to his episcopal see.

In 2002, Clinton warned that pre-emptive military action against Iraq would have unwelcome consequences.

Their actions sometimes have extreme consequences, but often for others, for which they themselves show no remorse whatsoever.

“ Biological weapons have massive, unpredictable, and potentially uncontrollable consequences ,” he declared.

Thus, any error in technology or judgment may have far-reaching consequences ( though the same can also happen through natural reproduction ).

These reactions have been explained as consequences of disinhibition, that is loss of control over socially unacceptable behavior.

Failure for them to do so could have serious consequences.

This situation can have important corporate, social, economic, and legal consequences, and has been the subject of significant research.

However, the lack of notice of copyright using these marks may have consequences in terms of reduced damages in an infringement lawsuit — using notices of this form may reduce the likelihood of a defense of " innocent infringement " being successful.

Ethical altruism can be seen as a consequentialist ethic which prescribes that an individual take actions that have the best consequences for everyone except for himself.

However, rule consequentialism chooses rules based on the consequences that the selection of those rules have.

For example, Philippa Foot argues that consequences in themselves have no ethical content, unless it has been provided by a virtue such as benevolence.

Agamemnon's family history had been marred by rape, murder, incest, and treachery, consequences of the heinous crime perpetrated by his ancestor, Tantalus, and then of a curse placed upon Pelops, son of Tantalus, by Myrtilus, whom he had murdered.

The most talked-about applications of these models in recent years have been their use to infer the consequences of increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, primarily carbon dioxide ( see greenhouse gas ).

The Allies had been amply resupplied by the United States, which also had fresh armies ready for combat, but the UK and France were too war-weary to contemplate an invasion of Germany with its unknown consequences.

These doctrines remain relevant, and most recently have been used by plaintiffs seeking to impose liability for the consequences of global climate change.

Gambling has often been seen as having social consequences.

Resolution 1441 was passed unanimously by the UN Security Council on November 8, 2002, offering Iraq " a final opportunity to comply with its disarmament obligations " that had been set out in several previous UN resolutions, threatening " serious consequences " if the obligations were not fulfilled.

In the post-war period, Italy was transformed from an agricultural based economy which had been severely affected by the consequences of World War II, into one of the world's most industrialized nations, and a leading country in world trade and exports.

The consequences of the decision have been mixed.

Although federal courts ' application of the Connelly rule has been inconsistent and state courts have often failed to appreciate the consequences of the case, Connelly clearly marked a significant change in the application of the voluntariness standard.

In addition, the authors of the 2007 study above state that " because of the use of the term ' nuclear autumn ' by Thompson and Schneider, even though the authors made clear that the climatic consequences would be large, in policy circles the theory of nuclear winter is considered by some to have been exaggerated and disproved Martin, 1988.

" This was passed on to General Georg Thomas, who had been preparing reports on the negative economic consequences of an invasion of the Soviet Union — that it would be a net economic drain unless it was captured intact.

Potentially, each Whiteheadean occasion of experience is causally consequential on every other occasion of experience that precedes it in time, and has as its causal consequences every other occasion of experience that follows it in time ; thus it has been said that Whitehead's occasions of experience are'all window ', in contrast to Leibniz's ' windowless ' monads.

" " Intelligent " has been described as " also an elusive term, meaning that the defendant knows his rights, the nature of the charge to which he is pleading, and the consequences of his plea.

This theory has a wide range of consequences which have been experimentally verified, including counter-intuitive ones such as length contraction, time dilation and relativity of simultaneity, contradicting the classical notion that the duration of the time interval between two events is equal for all observers.

All hormones that act by regulation of gene expression have two consequences in their mechanism of action ; their effects are produced after a characteristically long period of time and their effects persist for another long period of time, even after their concentration has been reduced to zero, due to a relatively slow turnover of most enzymes and proteins that would either deactivate or terminate ligand binding onto the receptor.

It has been argued that it is impossible to do the calculation that utilitarianism requires because consequences are inherently unknowable.

In Satisficing Consequentialism Michael Slote argues for a form of utilitarianism where “ an act might qualify as morally right through having good enough consequences, even though better consequences could have been produced .” One advantage of such a system is that it would be able to accommodate the notion of supererogatory actions.

In an article appearing in the Associated Press, it has been speculated by a Vanderbilt University endocrinologist that the hostility underlying the Hatfield – McCoy feud may have been partly due to the consequences of von Hippel – Lindau disease.

Historically there have also been negative consequences, mostly associated with the dams normally required for power production.