Progressive Reason and Utilitarianism

Progressive Reason is better exemplified by Utilitarianism than by Kant's Moral Law, despite the standard classifications of the two.  The latter does offer a decision procedure, but only in some cases, i. e. when one alternative is prohibited, remaining indifferent to the rest, which contemporary Deontic Logic homogenizes as 'Permissible'.  In contrast, the Utilitarian calculus is more nuanced, and, hence, more versatile, potentially applicable to any situation.  Still, as a formula for the adjudication between two or more possible courses of action, it leaves unrecognized the further alternative that ever-presently underlies them all--not acting at all, thereby maintaining given conditions. Implicit in its procedure, therefore, is that each of explicit choices under consideration is better than non-action, i. e. that it is an ameliorative process, and, thus, is an expression of Progressive Reason.