that fact may be eclipsed entirely by unproductive moral bickering. Desired outcomes are simply future states of the world, free of intrinsic ethical worth. This gives them appeal as the basis for public justification. Fruitful ethical dialogue can be maintained by renewed focus on commonly desired future states of the world in many cases of dissenting motivations for wanting them. This suggestion also applies to the question of appropriate circumstances for ethical criticism. Since ethical criticism is little more than self-righteousness without potentially altering others' behavior, it stands in need of a public reference for justification. Desired outcomes can easily serve this role. While this may not totally resolve interpersonal ethical disagreement (many times desired outcomes differ, offering no solution), it does ground justification for ethical criticism in a framework-neutral environment: one can now criticize an ethical framework on the basis of its unproductive social implications. If one group's ethical program entails a future world unsatisfactory to the majority of citizens, regardless of respective frameworks, then moral condemnation serves the purpose of uniting concerned parties to forge a majority solution based on ethical coextension. Simply put, declaring something wrong helps to get people to put things right....
