Defining the Rules
The 144 actions have been constructed by the blind and mindless process of considering all possible combinations of the available components. It is necessary to exclude some of these due to incoherence.
Two rules of logic are established to do this:
Rules of Logic
Rule of Logic 1: If misjudgment, neglect, and chance are not factors, the moral value of the outcome will be the same as of the intent.
Whenever the moral value of an outcome differs from the moral value of the intent, there must be some cause. We have grouped all causes into the three categories of: misjudgment, neglect, chance. If these aren’t factors affecting the outcome of an action, then the moral value of that action cannot have been changed from the moral value of the intentions.
There are 12 violations of this rule.
Rule of Logic 2: Only chance can influence the outcome of an action with forethought.
As previously stated, forethought is defined as a process by which any resulting influence due to misjudgment and neglect are instead classified as influence due to chance. Alternatively, this can be restated that misjudgment and neglect are necessarily due to lack of sufficient forethought. In either case, the existence of forethought precludes the influence of misjudgment and neglect.
There are 54 violations of this rule.
The Rules of Judgment
Factoring out the logically incoherent actions leaves 78.
For those the following rules of Judgment are devised:
Rule 1: Actions with immoral intentions are judged as immoral.
Given the intended purpose of establishing a guideline for behavior, immoral actions will result in immoral outcomes except when affected by misjudgment, neglect, or chance. None of those factors are reliable in preventing immoral intentions from being realized. As such, all actions with immoral intentions should be judged as immoral, regardless of outcome.
There are 26 applications of this rule.
Rule 2: Actions where misjudgment, neglect, and chance do not factor are judged according to their intent and outcome, both being of the same moral value.
In accordance with Rule of Logic 1, when misjudgment, neglect, and chance are not factors, then the outcome will invariable have the same moral value as the intentions. Such actions are to be judged in accordance with that moral value.
There are 4 applications of this rule.
Rule 3: Actions with forethought affected by chance are judged according to their intent.
As defined, forethought eliminates the effect of misjudgment and neglect. While elements of chance can be reduced, in quantity and magnitude, to a degree, they cannot be reliably eliminated. Since elements of chance are unpredictable and uncontrollable (predicted and controlled elements of chance would have been eliminated through adequate forethought), the actors should not be reasonable held responsible for them. Such actions are judged according to their intentions, regardless of outcome.
There are 6 applications of this rule.
Rule 4: Actions without forethought affected by misjudgment, neglect, or chance are judged according to their intent or outcome, whichever is of least moral value.
When misjudgment and neglect are factors, they are necessarily a result of lack of forethought on the part of the actor, thus making him or her accountable. When chance is a factor in such situations, it is impossible to determine if such chance was unavoidable, since no forethought was taken to make that determination. In either case, the morality of such actions is determined by their outcome or intentions, whichever is least. This ensures that actors are not rewarded for actions which are accidentally made more moral, but held responsible for actions which are accidentally made less moral since the actor neglected to take reasonable precautions against such an occurrence.
There are 42 applications of this rule.
Continues ...
To Be Continued With ....
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