At the end of this module, the students should be able to:
1 Define the principle of Double Effect;
2 Determine the Additional Modifiers of Responsibility
3 Apply the principles of double
effect/indirect voluntary INDIRECT VOLUNTARY • There is a difference between the way in which the act itself is voluntary and the way in which its consequences are voluntary. INDIRECT VOLUNTARY • There is a difference between the way in which the act itself is voluntary and the way in which its consequences are voluntary.
• Something is directly voluntary when it is
the thing willed, whether it be willed as an end or as means to an end. Something is indirectly voluntary when it is the unintended but foreseen consequence of something else that is directly voluntary; INDIRECT VOLUNTARY
• The agent wills the
cause of which this is a necessary effect. Thus one who throws a bomb at a king to assassinate him, knowing that he will kill the king’s attendants also, INDIRECT VOLUNTARY
• directly wills the throwing
of the bomb (as means), also directly wills the death of the king (as end), and indirectly wills the death of the attendants (as consequence) though their death gives him no profit. INDIRECT VOLUNTARY
• directly wills the throwing
of the bomb (as means), also directly wills the death of the king (as end), and indirectly wills the death of the attendants (as consequence) though their death gives him no profit. INDIRECT VOLUNTARY
Having examined the
voluntariness of the assassins action with regard to the deaths of the king, the attendants, and the possible innocent bystanders, we are now in a position to assess his responsibility for these various deaths. The distinction between the directly and the indirectly voluntary acts helps us to articulate what is happening psychologically, namely, that the assassin by his act directly intends the death of the king and is willing to accept the foreseen deaths of the attendants and possibly those of innocent bystanders. • The assassin must be assigned complete responsibility for the kings death, but how much responsibility does he have for all the other deaths? • Even if he is reluctant to accept the other deaths, must he accept complete responsibility for them? Those deaths may be an unfortunate side effect of the killing of the king, but his foreseeing them was not sufficient to deter him from killing the king and so he has complete responsibility for them. • Good or indifferent actions also may have evil physical consequences that can be foreseen.
• How responsible are we for these physical evils?
• Must we always refuse to do a good act if we
foresee that it will or can have some physical evil as one of its effects? If we were obliged to avoid every action that will result in physical evil, life in this world would soon become unlivable, impossible to bear The world in which we live is a mixture of good and evil that affects each of us as we try to live an upright moral life. There is a solution to the dilemma in the principle of the indirect voluntary, commonly known as the principle of the double effect. The first part of this principle is that no evil must ever be willed simply for its own sake either as end (goal) or as means, The second part of the principle is that evil may be willed indirectly, that is to say, as a foreseen but unwanted consequence, such an act is indirectly voluntary and may be willed only if it can somehow be reduced to an incidental and unavoidable by-product or side effect in the achievement of some good the person is rightly seeking. The principle of double effect says that it is morally allowable to perform an act that has an evil effect under the following conditions: 1. THE ACT TO BE DONE MUST BE GOOD IN ITSELF OR AT LEAST INDIFFERENT. This is evident, for if the act is evil of itself, evil would be chosen directly, either as an end or as a means to an end, and there could be no question of merely permitting or tolerating it. 2. THE GOOD INTENDED MUST NOT BE OBTAINED BY MEANS OF THE EVIL EFFECT. The evil must be only an incidental by-product and not an actual factor in the accomplishment of the good. 3. THE EVIL EFFECT MUST NOT BE INTENDED FOR ITSELF BUT ONLY PERMITTED. The bad effect may be of its own nature merely a by-product of the act per formed, but if the agent wants this bad effect, he or she makes it directly voluntary by willing it. 4. THERE MUST BE A PROPORTIONATELY GRAVE REASON FOR PERMITTING THE EVIL EFFECT. Though we are not always obliged to prevent evil, we are obliged to prevent a serious evil by a small sacrifice of our own good. RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACTS OF OTHERS Only the person who knowingly and willingly does an act can be responsible for it. OCCASION OF EVIL The word scandal originally meant a stumbling block, and metaphorically something we trip on and fall over in our moral career. OCCASION OF EVIL • We give occasion of evil to another directly if we intend his or her evil act either as an end or as a means. OCCASION OF EVIL The direct voluntariness of this direct giving of occasion of evil makes for complete responsibility for the evil on the part of the giver. OCCASION OF EVIL The takers responsibility is also complete if the evil is done knowingly and willingly; COOPERATION IN EVIL Cooperation in another’s evil deed may occur by joining that person in the actual performance of the act or by supplying him or her with the means for performing it. Situational Analysis • Analyze the situation using the • Justify your perspectives based principle of double-effect. on the principle of double effect.
• Discuss and come up with a
potential actions that could be taken in a given situation, considering both intended and unintended consequences. • In a war-torn country, a military commander is faced with a difficult decision. There is a strategically located enemy base that poses a significant threat to innocent civilians in nearby villages. The commander has the option to launch an airstrike on the enemy base, which would likely eliminate the threat but may also result in civilian casualties. However, not taking action could lead to even more civilian deaths in the long run as the enemy base continues to plan attacks on nearby villages.