Intention, temporal order, and moral judgments

Walter Sinnott-Armstrong; Ron Mallon; Tom McCoy; Jay G. Hull

doi:10.1111/j.1468-0017.2007.00330.x

Intention, temporal order, and moral judgments

Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
, Ron Mallon
, Tom McCoy
, Jay G. Hull

Department of Philosophy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

32 Scopus citations

Abstract

The traditional philosophical doctrine of double effect claims that agents' intentions affect whether acts are morally wrong. Our behavioral study reveals that agents' intentions do affect whether acts are judged morally wrong, whereas the temporal order of good and bad effects affects whether acts are classified as killings. This finding suggests that the moral judgments are not based on the classifications. Our results also undermine recent claims that prior moral judgments determine whether agents are seen as causing effects intentionally rather than as side effects.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	90-106
Number of pages	17
Journal	Mind and Language
Volume	23
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0017.2007.00330.x
State	Published - Feb 2008

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10.1111/j.1468-0017.2007.00330.x

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AB - The traditional philosophical doctrine of double effect claims that agents' intentions affect whether acts are morally wrong. Our behavioral study reveals that agents' intentions do affect whether acts are judged morally wrong, whereas the temporal order of good and bad effects affects whether acts are classified as killings. This finding suggests that the moral judgments are not based on the classifications. Our results also undermine recent claims that prior moral judgments determine whether agents are seen as causing effects intentionally rather than as side effects.

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Intention, temporal order, and moral judgments

Abstract

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