That one ought morally to do the best one can is a view that enjoys a rich history of support.1 Its most famous incarnation is act utilitarianism, according to which one ought to produce the most favorable balance of pleasure over pain that one can. Act utilitarianism is traditionally seen to be an amalgamation of hedonism (the view that the only thing that is intrinsically good [bad] is a state of pleasure [pain]) and consequentialism (the view that one ought to produce the most favorable balance of intrinsic goodness over intrinsic badness that one can). It is the consequentialist aspect of act utilitarianism that renders it a version of the thesis that one ought to do the best one can.
