What are you arguing here? First you argue that “just maximize utility” is not enough to make a decision. This is of course true, since utilitarianism is not a fully specified theory. There are many different utilitarian systems of ethics, just as there are many different deontological ethics and many different egoist ethics.
Second you are arguing that working out the costs and benefits is not an indicator of consequentialism. Perhaps this is not perfectly true, but if you follow these arguments to their conclusion then basically nothing is an indicator of any ethical system. Writing a list of costs and benefits, as these terms are usually understood, focuses one’s attention on the consequences of the action rather than the reasons for the action (as the virtue ethicists care about) or the rules mandating or forbidding an action (as the deontologists care about). Yes, the users of different ethical theories can use pretty much any tool to help them decide, but some tools are more useful for some theories because they push your thinking into the directions that theory considers relevant.
What are you arguing here? First you argue that “just maximize utility” is not enough to make a decision. This is of course true, since utilitarianism is not a fully specified theory. There are many different utilitarian systems of ethics, just as there are many different deontological ethics and many different egoist ethics.
Second you are arguing that working out the costs and benefits is not an indicator of consequentialism. Perhaps this is not perfectly true, but if you follow these arguments to their conclusion then basically nothing is an indicator of any ethical system. Writing a list of costs and benefits, as these terms are usually understood, focuses one’s attention on the consequences of the action rather than the reasons for the action (as the virtue ethicists care about) or the rules mandating or forbidding an action (as the deontologists care about). Yes, the users of different ethical theories can use pretty much any tool to help them decide, but some tools are more useful for some theories because they push your thinking into the directions that theory considers relevant.
Are you arguing anything else?