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The distinction between intended and merely foreseen effe... — Carmelics

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Challenges→Foreseeable harmful effects on a criminal's family that result from imprisonment do not constitute punishment.

The distinction between intended and merely foreseen effects cannot bear full moral weight when the foreseen effects are structurally guaranteed outcomes of the punitive system itself.

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Reasons For

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Reason for

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1.If an outcome is mechanically certain given system design, the agent designed that system bears responsibility for it as if directly intended.
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2.Moral agency requires treating predictable structural consequences the same as chosen ones, else designers evade accountability through architecture.
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3.The intention/foresight distinction assumes uncertain futures; when outcomes are structurally guaranteed, this distinction collapses morally.
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Reasons Against

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Reason against

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1.The intention/foresight distinction remains morally significant even for certain outcomes—it reflects different moral relationships between agent and harm.
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2.Collapsing intention into foresight makes all system participants equally culpable, eliminating meaningful moral differentiation between designers and users.
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3."Structurally guaranteed" is often retrospectively identified; treating it as foreseen risks holding designers responsible for unforeseeable systemic effects.
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Key Terms

Doctrine of Double Effect(Proposed as one explanation for differing moral judgments in trolley-type cases): A moral principle that distinguishes between harm that is strictly intended (as a means or end) and harm that is merely foreseen as a side effect of an action
Foreseen effects(ethics and moral responsibility): The negative consequences you predict will happen as a result of your action, even though you're not directly trying to cause them.
Intended effects(ethics and moral responsibility): The outcomes you directly aim to bring about when you decide to do something.
Punitive system(applied ethics and criminal justice): A system (like criminal justice or punishment programs) designed to inflict consequences or suffering on people for breaking rules.
Structurally guaranteed(describing outcomes of institutions or systems): Built into how a system works, so it will happen automatically no matter what—not accidental or avoidable.
moral weight(as used in ethics): How serious or significant a wrong action is; how much it matters ethically.

Connections

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Justice & Punishment1 linked

Related

"Structurally guaranteed" is often retrospectively identified; treating it as fo...Collapsing intention into foresight makes all system participants equally culpab...Foreseeable harmful effects on a criminal's family that result from imprisonment...If an outcome is mechanically certain given system design, the agent designed th...

Details

Type: claim
Perspectives: 2 (1 for, 1 against)
Edits: 1 edit

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Moral agency requires treating predictable structural consequences the same as c...The intention/foresight distinction assumes uncertain futures; when outcomes are...The intention/foresight distinction remains morally significant even for certain...