Doctrine of Double Effect.docx

Doctrine of Double Effect.docx

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DoctrineofDoubleEffect

DoctrineofDoubleEffect

FirstpublishedWedJul28,2004;substantiverevisionWedSep7,2011

Thedoctrine（orprinciple）ofdoubleeffectisofteninvokedtoexplainthepermissibilityofanactionthatcausesaseriousharm,suchasthedeathofahumanbeing,asasideeffectofpromotingsomegoodend.Itisclaimedthatsometimesitispermissibletocausesuchaharmasasideeffect（or“doubleeffect”）ofbringingaboutagoodresulteventhoughitwouldnotbepermissibletocausesuchaharmasameanstobringingaboutthesamegoodend.Thisreasoningissummarizedwiththeclaimthatsometimesitispermissibletobringaboutasamerelyforeseensideeffectaharmfuleventthatitwouldbeimpermissibletobringaboutintentionally.

∙1.Formulationsoftheprincipleofdoubleeffect

∙2.Applications

∙3.Criticisms

∙4.Oneprincipleormany?

∙5.EndofLifeDecision-making

∙Bibliography

1.Formulationsoftheprincipleofdoubleeffect

ThomasAquinasiscreditedwithintroducingtheprincipleofdoubleeffectinhisdiscussionofthepermissibilityofself-defenseintheSummaTheologica （II-II,Qu.64,Art.7）.Killingone'sassailantisjustified,heargues,providedonedoesnotintendtokillhim.Aquinasobservesthat“Nothinghindersoneactfromhavingtwoeffects,onlyoneofwhichisintended,whiletheotherisbesidetheintention.…Accordingly,theactofself-defensemayhavetwoeffects:

one,thesavingofone'slife;theother,theslayingoftheaggressor.”AsAquinas'sdiscussioncontinues,ajustificationisprovidedthatrestsoncharacterizingthedefensiveactionasameanstoagoalthatisjustified:

“Therefore,thisact,sinceone'sintentionistosaveone'sownlife,isnotunlawful,seeingthatitisnaturaltoeverythingtokeepitselfinbeingasfaraspossible.”However,Aquinasobserves,thepermissibilityofself-defenseisnotunconditional:

“Andyet,thoughproceedingfromagoodintention,anactmayberenderedunlawfulifitbeoutofproportiontotheend.Wherefore,ifamaninself-defenseusesmorethannecessaryviolence,itwillbeunlawful,whereas,ifherepelforcewithmoderation,hisdefensewillbelawful.”

Aquinasdoesnotactuallysaythatintendingtokilltheassailantasameanstoself-defensewouldbeprohibited.Thepassagecanbeinterpretedasformulatingaprohibitiononapportioningone'seffortswithkillingastheonlygoalguidingone'sactions,whichwouldleadonetoactwithgreaterviciousnessthanthegoalofself-defensewouldallow.Incontrast,Augustinehadearliermaintainedthatkillinginself-defensewasnotpermissible,maintainingthat“privateself-defensecanonlyproceedfromsomedegreeofinordinateself-love.”

Laterversionsofthedoubleeffectprincipleallemphasizethedistinctionbetweencausingamorallygraveharmasasideeffectofpursuingagoodendandcausingaharmasameansofpursuingagoodend.Wecansummarizethisbynotingthatforcertaincategoriesofmorallygraveactions,forexample,causingthedeathofahumanbeing,theprincipleofdoubleeffectcombinesaspecialpermissionforincidentallycausingdeathforthesakeofagoodend（whenitoccursasasideeffectofone'spursuitofthatend）withageneralprohibitiononinstrumentallycausingdeathforthesakeofagoodend（whenitoccursaspartofone'smeanstopursuethatend）.TheprohibitionisabsoluteintraditionalCatholicapplicationsoftheprinciple.Twotraditionalformulationsappearbelow.

TheNewCatholicEncyclopedia providesfourconditionsfortheapplicationoftheprincipleofdoubleeffect:

1.Theactitselfmustbemorallygoodoratleastindifferent.

2.Theagentmaynotpositivelywillthebadeffectbutmaypermitit.Ifhecouldattainthegoodeffectwithoutthebadeffectheshoulddoso.Thebadeffectissometimessaidtobeindirectlyvoluntary.

3.Thegoodeffectmustflowfromtheactionatleastasimmediately（intheorderofcausality,thoughnotnecessarilyintheorderoftime）asthebadeffect.Inotherwordsthegoodeffectmustbeproduceddirectlybytheaction,notbythebadeffect.Otherwisetheagentwouldbeusingabadmeanstoagoodend,whichisneverallowed.

4.Thegoodeffectmustbesufficientlydesirabletocompensatefortheallowingofthebadeffect“（p.1021）.

TheconditionsprovidedbyJosephManganincludetheexplicitrequirementthatthebadeffectnotbeintended:

Apersonmaylicitlyperformanactionthatheforeseeswillproduceagoodeffectandabadeffectprovidedthatfourconditionsareverifiedatoneandthesametime:

1.thattheactioninitselffromitsveryobjectbegoodoratleastindifferent;

2.thatthegoodeffectandnottheevileffectbeintended;

3.thatthegoodeffectbenotproducedbymeansoftheevileffect;

4.thattherebeaproportionatelygravereasonforpermittingtheevileffect”（1949,p.43）.

Doubleeffectmightalsobepartofasecularnon-absolutistviewaccordingtowhichajustificationadequateforcausingacertainharmasasideeffectmightnotbeadequateforcausingthatharmasameanstothesamegoodendunderthesamecircumstances.WarrenQuinnprovidessuchanon-absolutistaccountthatalsorecastsdoubleeffectasadistinctionbetweendirectandindirectagency.Onhisview,doubleeffect“distinguishesbetweenagencyinwhichharmcomestosomevictims,atleastinpart,fromtheagent'sdeliberatelyinvolvingtheminsomethinginordertofurtherhispurposepreciselybywayoftheirbeingsoinvolved（agencyinwhichtheyfigureasintentionalobjects）,andharmfulagencyinwhicheithernothingisinthatwayintendedforthevictimsorwhatissointendeddoesnotcontributetotheirharm”（1989,p.343）.Quinnexplainsthat“directagencyrequiresneitherthatharmitselfbeusefulnorthatwhatisusefulbecausallyconnectedinsomeespeciallyclosewaywiththeharmithelpsbringabout”（1989,p.344）.Heremarksthat“somecasesofharmingthatthedoctrineintuitivelyspeaksagainstarearguablynotcasesofintentionalharming,preciselybecauseneithertheharmitself（noranythingitselfcausallyveryclosetoit）isintended”（1991,p.511）.Onthisview,thedistinctionbetweendirectandindirectharmfulagencyiswhatunderliesthemoralsignificanceofthedistinctionbetweenintendedandmerelyforeseenharms,butitneednotalignperfectlywithit.

2.Applications

Manymorallyreflectivepeoplehavebeenpersuadedthatsomethingalongthelinesofdoubleeffectmustbecorrect.NodoubtthisisbecauseatleastsomeoftheexamplescitedasillustrationsofDEhaveconsiderableintuitiveappeal:

1.Theterrorbomberaimstobringaboutciviliandeathsinordertoweakentheresolveoftheenemy:

whenhisbombskillciviliansthisisaconsequencethatheintends.Thetacticalbomberaimsatmilitarytargetswhileforeseeingthatbombingsuchtargetswillcauseciviliandeaths.Whenhisbombskillciviliansthisisaforeseenbutunintendedconsequenceofhisactions.Evenifitisequallycertainthatthetwobomberswillcausethesamenumberofciviliandeaths,terrorbombingisimpermissiblewhiletacticalbombingispermissible.

2.Adoctorwhointendstohastenthedeathofaterminallyillpatientbyinjectingalargedoseofmorphinewouldactimpermissiblybecauseheintendstobringaboutthepatient'sdeath.However,adoctorwhointendedtorelievethepatient'spainwiththatsamedoseandmerelyforesawthehasteningofthepatient'sdeathwouldactpermissibly.（Themistakenassumptionthattheuseofopioiddrugsforpainrelieftendstohastendeathisdiscussedbelowinsection5.）

3.Adoctorwhobelievedthatabortionwaswrong,eveninordertosavethemother'slife,mightneverthelessconsistentlybelievethatitwouldbepermissibletoperformahysterectomyonapregnantwomanwithcancer.Incarryingoutthehysterectomy,thedoctorwouldaimtosavethewoman'slifewhilemerelyforeseeingthedeathofthefetus.Performinganabortion,bycontrast,wouldinvolveintendingtokillthefetusasameanstosavingthemother.

4.Tokillapersonwhomyouknowtobeplottingtokillyouwouldbeimpermissiblebecauseitwouldbeacaseofintentionalkilling;however,tostrikeinself-defenseagainstanaggressorispermissible,evenifoneforeseesthattheblowbywhichonedefendsoneselfwillbefatal.

5.Itwouldbewrongtothrowsomeoneintothepathofarunawaytrolleyinordertostopitandkeepitfromhittingfivepeopleonthetrackahead;thatwouldinvolveintendingharmtotheoneasameansofsavingthefive.Butitwouldbepermissibletodivertarunawaytrolleyontoatrackholdingoneandawayfromatrackholdingfive:

inthatcaseoneforeseesthedeathoftheoneasasideeffectofsavingthefivebutonedoesnotintendit.

6.Sacrificingone'sownlifeinordertosavethelivesofotherscanbedistinguishedfromsuicidebycharacterizingtheagent'sintention:

asoldierwhothrowshimselfonalivegrenadeintendstoshieldothersfromitsblastandmerelyforeseeshisowndeath;bycontrast,apersonwhocommitssuicideintendstobringhisorherownlifetoanend.

3.Criticisms

Doestheprincipleofdoubleeffectplaytheimportantexplanatoryrolethathasbeenclaimedforit?

Toconsiderthisquestion,onemustbecarefultoclarifyjustwhattheprincipleissupposedtoexplain.Threemisinterpretationsoftheprinciple'sforceorrangeofapplicationarecommon.

First,itisamisinterpretationtoclaimthattheprincipleofdoubleeffectshowsthatagentsmaypermissiblybringaboutharmfuleffectsprovidedthattheyaremerelyforeseensideeffectsofpromotingagoodend.Applicationsofdoubleeffectalwayspresupposethatsomekindofproporti