Will and the Refutation of Utilitarianism

An Ethics of Empowerment not only presents an alternative to Utilitarianism, it refutes it. For, the self-activation process that the former proposes to cultivate, as the initiation of action, is irreducible to the end states which, according to Utilitarianism, are the bearers of Moral value. Hence, it stands as a counter-example to the Utilitarian claim that all Morality is fundamentally end-oriented. Furthermore, the implication that only the results of action are praiseworthy tends to stifle the liberation of Will from its subordination to Purposiveness. Thus, the refutation of Utilitarianism serves not merely to defend one rival doctrine from it, it is a substantive phase within that alternative doctrine.