In my previous post, I posed the question whether a well-intentioned albeit ignorant individual is acting morally when he gives his friends gifts that violate their religious beliefs.
Maybe we could say that every person has a duty to be reasonably educated about the things that are morally offensive to others. Therefore, if I have knowledge that my friend is a devout Muslim, then it is incumbent upon me not to violate a religious taboo that he holds sacrosanct.
However, imagine that I buy a samurai sword for my friend, who always wanted to own one. My intention is wholly good: I just want to make her happy. Completely unbeknownst to me, however, my friend is struggling with mental illness, and she uses that particular sword to commit suicide.
In this case, it's not an issue of education. I could not have reasonably known that my friend was suicidal. You might say that I have a duty not to give people weapons that can do harm, but what if I gave someone a chemistry set or a kitchen instrument?
These scenarios illustrate why I'm skeptical about intentions. It is certainly true that sometimes our intentions bring about the consequences that we desire, but life is much too complicated for that.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment