[Armed Politicker]

Convinced consequentialist.

Also a consequentialist might say that killing the thief is ok at that time, because the consequence is ridding society of this bad man.

I disagree. A dead man produces no value anymore, a thief turned from thieving is likely to. Reform, by the minimal investment of resources, is the better choice. If the thief steals by choice and not necessity, kneecap him or de-thumb him. Limping and loss of opposable digits would force someone to abandon stealing, wouldn't it? And he would still be able to work, contribute value to society, in ways robbers and corpses don't.

[starri]

Convinced consequentialist.



I disagree. A dead man produces no value anymore, a thief turned from thieving is likely to. Reform, by the minimal investment of resources, is the better choice. If the thief steals by choice and not necessity, kneecap him or de-thumb him. Limping and loss of opposable digits would force someone to abandon stealing, wouldn't it? And he would still be able to work, contribute value to society, in ways robbers and corpses don't.

Well, since I am not a consequentialist myself, thank you for your input and further clarifications. :]

[Armed Politicker]

Well, since I am not a consequentialist myself, thank you for your input and further clarifications. :]

Well, you did say "a consequentialist might say", which is true, one might, after all. True to consequentialism, my solution is correct-ish if the goal is to avoid losing resources as a community. The crippled thief would still "pollute" the community with, so to speak, his bad attitude. So if culling the community of unvirtuous influences is on some level a goal, I suppose removing the thief like you would a cancerous growth would be reasonable.

Usually, though, I find a mixed approach works. I have a lot of end goals that fall under virtue ethics. Favouring children, protecting animals, serving the public, keeping my promises. It gets counter-productive from a consequentialistic vantage point. The methods I employ to accomplish these things, however, can be horrendously machiavellian, so I'm not sure what you would call that.

[benr3600]

Both Consequentialism and Virtue for me.