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    Carmelics

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    An agent's intention partially constitutes the moral char... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→On the patient-centered libertarian deontological view, switching the trolley to save five workers at the cost of one is permissible even if the agent intends to kill the one worker.

    An agent's intention partially constitutes the moral character of an act, not merely its causal structure (Anscombe, 'Modern Moral Philosophy', 1958).

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    Reasons For

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    Reason for
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    • 1.Acts with identical physical outcomes differ morally: intentional killing vs. accidental killing reveal distinct moral character.
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    • 2.Moral evaluation requires understanding inner states; external behavior alone cannot capture moral agency or virtue.
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    • 3.Consequentialist accounts fail to distinguish deliberate cruelty from regrettable harm, missing crucial moral distinctions.
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    Reasons Against

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    • 1.Intentions are epistemically opaque; we cannot reliably assess others' mental states, making intention-based morality impractical.
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    • 2.Consequences are objective and verifiable; intentions are subjective claims that agents can rationalize or misrepresent.
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    • 3.If moral character depends partly on intentions, agents could achieve moral redemption through hidden mental reorientation without restitution.
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    Related

    Acts with identical physical outcomes differ morally: intentional killing vs. ac...Consequences are objective and verifiable; intentions are subjective claims that...Consequentialist accounts fail to distinguish deliberate cruelty from regrettabl...If moral character depends partly on intentions, agents could achieve moral rede...
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    Intentions are epistemically opaque; we cannot reliably assess others' mental st...Moral evaluation requires understanding inner states; external behavior alone ca...On the patient-centered libertarian deontological view, switching the trolley to...

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    claim
    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
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