Impossible Consequentialization: Why All Theories in Normative Ethics Are Already Consequentialist [Preprint]

It has been argued that all plausible non-consequentialist theories in normative ethics can be consequentialized. While the consequentializing project challenges the conventional distinction between consequentialist and non-consequentialist theories, it presupposes that some theories are not already consequentialist—a necessary condition for consequentialization. This article advances the radical claim that all theories in normative ethics are already consequentialist, thereby rendering the consequentializing project impossible. Specifically, it is argued that all theories instantiate a form of structural preference consequentialism, based on a distinctive conception of ethical preference and a broad notion of consequence encompassing causal, constitutive, and logical consequences.