A. Theories which take happiness to be the satisfaction of some natural desire or desires

1. Conventionalism: 
 

End = satisfaction of my desires, whatever they happen to be.

Motive = narrow self-interest

Comment: Moral norms result from social agreements that are motivated by narrow self-interest and are entered into out of the conviction that they provide the best chance for me to maximize my preference satisfaction. (Hence, if I can violate these norms with complete impunity, I have no reason to conform to them.)
 

2. Consequentialism:

End = the greatest satisfaction of the desires of the greatest number (see comment (d) below).

Motive = natural benevolence toward others

Comments: (a) The satisfaction of my own desires is felt to be a tawdry and selfish motive. The conviction is that we also have a natural benevolence toward others and that this good will for others is a basic part of our makeup. (b) So we should care about others as much as about ourselves, and so moral norms arise from the unselfish desire to promote the good of everyone equally, without special pleading for my own selfish desires. (c) Unfortunately, this attempt to build altruism into moral norms undermines moral absolutes, since it is easy to imagine individual cases (and even general practices) that promote the "greatest happiness of the greatest number" while trampling over individual dignity. (d) Consequentialism can come in both cognitivist and non-cognitivist brands, depending on whether one believes that a ordering of "pre-moral" goods can be established by reason or can at least be plausibly upheld. If not, then what individuals or communities in fact desire or prefer is taken as normative for the relevant time and place.
 

3. Eudaimonism:

End = satisfaction of desire for human fulfillment, where it is assumed that a well-ordered soul is necessary, though not sufficient, for human fulfillment.

Motive = desire to flourish as an individual

Comments: (a) Care for the good of others is accomplished not through a general person-indifferent benevolence, but by the realization, in both theory and practice, that one's own fulfillment as a human being involves counting the good of others as an essential element of one's own good. (b) This sort of theory is at least consistent with the claim that there are absolute moral norms. (c) St. Thomas combines this with elements of divine command theory to come up with a distinctively Christian moral theory.
 
 
 

B. Theories which take happiness to consist entirely in having a well-ordered soul
 

1. Divine Command Theory

End = conforming one's will to the will of God (i.e., obedience to divine commands)

Motive = fear of divine punishment or, better, love of God above all things

Comments: (a) the question of motivation is paramount here. Fear is understandable, but why would I be motivated to love God above all things?
 

2. Kantianism

End = conforming one's will to the commands endemic to an autonomous rational being

Motive = desire to conform myself to norms fitting for an autonomous rational being

Comments: (a) the question of motivation is again paramount here. Fear is out, and so, it seems, is love. So what would motivate me to conform myself to commands that I give myself? (b) What do such commands look like. (c) On this view, divine command theories violate human autonomy.