What is consequentialism?

Consequentialism is when you decide what to do based on how it will make things turn out later.

Imagine you're choosing between two ice cream flavors for dessert, chocolate or vanilla. If you pick chocolate, everyone at the table gets super happy and laughs a lot. But if you pick vanilla, some people are okay with it, but no one is super excited. A consequentialist would choose chocolate because they care about how people feel afterward, they want the best outcome for everyone.

Think of it like playing a game: you don’t just pick the move that feels good right now, you think about what happens next. If you're playing tag, and you’re “it,” you might run away instead of chasing someone else, because you want to be not “it” later. That’s consequentialism in action, choosing what to do based on what will happen after.

So whether it's ice cream or tag, a consequentialist is always thinking about the result, not just the choice they're making now.