  In the Hegelian phase of McTaggart’s career, McTaggart defended a form of consequentialism in which the ultimate good coincided with what is ultimately real: a series of persons each of whose final end is in complete harmony with the universe (and so with the final ends of every other individual), resulting in the happiness of each  individual.[37] Although the production of this ultimate good is our obligation, it is exceedingly difficult for us to know which actions of ours are what we ought to do. For this reason, McTaggart suggests that we need a ‘criterion’ for moral rightness, i.e., a decision-procedure such that if we follow it we are most apt to do what we ought to do. McTaggart argues that a form of hedonistic utilitarianism is the best criterion for moral rightness that we can reasonably hope  for.[38] McTaggart grants that sometimes this criterion could give incorrect results, and that since following it is not a certain guide to what is right, we must admit that our ethical knowledge is limited and incomplete.