Should We Wish Well to All?

Abstract

Some moral theories (for example, standard, “ex post” forms of egalitarianism, prioritarianism, and constraint-based deontology) tell you, in some situations in which you are interacting with a group of people, to avoid acting in the way that is expectedly best for everybody. This essay argues that such theories are mistaken. Go ahead and do what is expectedly best for everybody. The argument is based on the thought that when interacting with an individual it is fine for you to act in the expected interests of the individual and that many interactions with individuals may compose an interaction with a group. Keywords: agglomeration; beneficence; consequentialism; constraints; deontology; egalitarianism; incommensurability; prioritarianism