While Kant’s ethics doesn’t logically reduce to consequentialism, the categorical imperative seems to rest on assumptions about long-term outcomes. Kant’s insistence on a universal prohibition against lying appears grounded in the belief that a strict norm of truth-telling creates a more stable and morally reliable society, even if it leads to worse outcomes in rare cases. So while consequences aren’t the explicit justification, they seem to determine the principles we find reasonable and can will to become a universal law.
If the claim is that every moral theory is equivalent to ‘rule consequentialism’, maybe you have more of a case. But ‘act consequentialism’ is very distinct I think.
While Kant’s ethics doesn’t logically reduce to consequentialism, the categorical imperative seems to rest on assumptions about long-term outcomes. Kant’s insistence on a universal prohibition against lying appears grounded in the belief that a strict norm of truth-telling creates a more stable and morally reliable society, even if it leads to worse outcomes in rare cases. So while consequences aren’t the explicit justification, they seem to determine the principles we find reasonable and can will to become a universal law.
If the claim is that every moral theory is equivalent to ‘rule consequentialism’, maybe you have more of a case. But ‘act consequentialism’ is very distinct I think.