Fundamental and technical methods of ethics

Consequentialists and deontologists alike tacitly presume that moral decisions should be reached from basic assessments of theoretically set moral value. The presumption they share, I argue, is seriously mistaken. We need to distinguish two general methods of reaching moral decisions, that of the moral fundamentalist and that of the moral technician. Moral fundamentalists and technicians differ in their methods, but not in their aims. The distinction between the two general methods of ethics is particularly important for consequentialism. I maintain that a consequentialist may be without inconsistency a utilitarian fundamentalist and a deontological technician. I suggest that when we pay heed to our epistemic constraints, we have strong consequentialist grounds for adopting this unusual position.