A recent administrative law decision in Victoria, Australia, applied double effect reasoning in a novel way. Double effect reasoning has hitherto been used to legitimate treatments which may shorten life but where the intent of treatment is pain relief. The situation reviewed by the Victorian tribunal went further, supporting actions where a doctor agrees to provide pentobarbitone to a patient at some time in the future if the patient feels at that time that his pain is unbearable and he wants (...) to end his life. The offer to provide the drug was described as a palliative treatment in that it gave reassurance and comfort to the patient. Double effect reasoning was extended in this instance to encompass potentially facilitating a patient’s death. This extension further muddies the murky double effect reasoning waters and creates another challenge to this concept. (shrink)

In this paper, I argue that the doctrine of double effect is disposed toward abuse. I try to identify two distinct sources of abuse of double effect: the conditions associated with standard formulations of double effect and the difficulty of fully understanding one’s own intentions in action. Both of these sources of abuse are exacerbated in complex circumstances, where double effect is most often employed. I raise this concern about abuse not as a criticism of double effect but rather as (...) a problem that defenders should observe and try to prevent. I go on to suggest certain methods for avoiding the abuse of double effect such as hesitating to use it, applying it only with other agents, and selectively and carefully propagating it. (shrink)

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, most legacy airlines filed for bankruptcy protection as a way to cut costs drastically, with the exception of American Airlines. This article applies the Principle of Double-Effect to the act of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for reasons of management strategy, in particular, cost-cutting. It argues that the Principle can be a useful tool for discerning the ethicality of the action, and demonstrates the usefulness by proposing three double-effect criteria that, when (...) fulfilled, argues for the ethical justifiability the action in question. (shrink)

En este trabajo se lleva a cabo un análisis del principio moral ciceroniano minimade malis eligenda. El autor procura mostrar que las afirmaciones de Benedicto XVI sobre el uso profiláctico del condón en conductas sexuales moralmente desordenadas están en armonia con la interpretación clásica de este principio, esto es, con aquella interpretación que ha sido recogida como verdadera por la tradición clásica de la ley natural. Con esta finalidad, el trabajo se estructura de la siguiente manera. En primer lugar, se (...) explica cuál es la interpretación proporcionalista del principio minimade malis eligenda,y se ofrece un argumento fundamental para rechazarla. En segundo lugar, se exponen tres sentidos en los que el principio ha operado como una regla moral válida en el marco no proporcionalista de la teoria clásica de la ley natural. En tercer lugar, se demuestra que los dichos del Papa responden a uno de estos usos adecuados del principio, por lo que no hay razones para pensar que él se ha apartado de la enseñanza moral tradicional. (shrink)