benefits and costs produced by the action are not examined from the perspective of the
decision-maker; on the contrary, all benefits and costs that accrue to anyone who is affected
by the action are counted (social benefits and costs, not private benefits and costs). Third,
benefits and costs include any kind of good or harm, including things that may be difficult to
value in precise noncontroversial ways (for example, the value of a human life). Fourth, the
benefits and costs to be counted include both those that accrue in the present time as well as
those that accrue in the future; future benefits and costs are discounted to present value. Fifth,
it is not sufficient that the action does more good than harm; rather the action must do the
most good and the least harm to be considered ethical.