Facts, Values and Norms: Essays Toward a Morality of Consequence

Peter Railton's Facts, Values, and Norms: Essays Toward a Morality of Consequence (2003) explores consequentialism, a moral theory where actions are judged by their outcomes. Railton, along with other naturalists, suggests that moral terms relate to desires people would have under idealized conditions: calm, reflective, and fully informed. These idealized desires should also value impartiality. This approach aims to establish an objective basis for morality, though it grapples with whether these idealized conditions lead to universally agreed-upon moral judgments.1234