The Doctrine of Double Effect and Allowing
describe some attractions of the DDE
- It explains why we would pull the switch in the trolly problem. - It justifies tactical bombings. - It explains why killing yourself is wrong.
define and apply the doctrine of doing and allowing (DDA)
According to DDA, doing harm is always morally worse than allowing an equivalent harm.
define and apply the doctrine of double effect (DDE)
According to DDE, an act that causes harm is morally permissible if an only if it meets the following four criteria: 1. The act is aimed at good 2. the act isn't aimed at harm 3. the harm isn't the means by which the act achieves good 4. the good outweighs the harm.
explain the difference between allowing and enabling
Allowing is equal to not preventing. (Allowing an animal to escape by not closing its cage) Allowing is not equal to enabling. (Allowing an animal to escape by opening its cage)
explain why Philippa Foot thinks the DDA is superior to the DDE
Although DDE can explain our intuitions in many cases, DDA can explain them in more.
describe some problems with the DDE
DDE is sometimes too strong and other times too weak. An example of it being weak is it would justify selling poisoned oils. (P1) If the DDE is true, then selling poisoned oil is morally permissible (assuming that your goal is making money). (P2) But selling poisoned oil is not morally permissible. (C1) Therefore, the DDE is false. In this case, the DDE entails that it's morally permissible to do something that seems wrong. In this case, the DDE is too weak.
Negative vs Positive
Foot uses negative and positive duties. Duties not to do harm are negative duties. Duties not to allow harm are positive duties.
describe some problems with the DDA
In pairs of cases where the only difference between two acts is that one violates a negative duty while the other violates a positive duty, neither act seems worse than the other. (Letting a baby drown vs drowning the baby with your own hands.
explain the difference between intending and foreseeing
Say a kid falls off a playground and you run to catch him. You foresee that one of you might get hurt during the catch, but the intention is just to catch the kid safely and save him from falling.
