Deontology and Consequentialism: An Informational Approach

Abstract

For the last forty years, consequentialism has evolved to answer many reviews on it, as far as today it shares important features with deontological theories. Amartya Sen’s informational approach analyses the kind and quantity of information needed by an ethical structure. I use this method to ascertain how far this new consequentialism can approach deontology, and how difficult this enlargement could be. In the context of the deontological principle of double effect, an informational approach can show that there is an unavoidable divergence between deontology and consequentialism. That disparity shows genuine dimensions in practical reason.