The Good, the Bad and the Intentional - The Psychologist
In 2003, when George Bush and Tony Blair inaugurated the ongoing war in Iraq, both men surely knew that civilian deaths would be one of the costs of the military engagement. But did Bush or Blair intentionally cause these deaths?
How you answer this question is likely to turn on your moral stance towards the war - whether you see it as an immoral violation of international law, or a liberating intervention in an oppressive regime. That's the message emerging from research in the burgeoning field of experimental philosophy, which applies empirical methods to age-old questions such as how the beliefs, desires and intentions behind certain actions affect how others view these actions.
In 2003, when George Bush and Tony Blair inaugurated the ongoing war in Iraq, both men surely knew that civilian deaths would be one of the costs of the military engagement. But did Bush or Blair intentionally cause these deaths?
How you answer this question is likely to turn on your moral stance towards the war - whether you see it as an immoral violation of international law, or a liberating intervention in an oppressive regime. That's the message emerging from research in the burgeoning field of experimental philosophy, which applies empirical methods to age-old questions such as how the beliefs, desires and intentions behind certain actions affect how others view these actions.
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