Live and let die â The distinction between doing and allowing harm and the veterinarianâs integrity

E. Linder

Live and let die â The distinction between doing and allowing harm and the veterinarianâs integrity

In: EurSafe2024 Proceedings

Author:

E. Linder

E. Linder Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine, 1210 Vienna, Austria; Vienna Doctoral School of Philosophy, University of Vienna, Department of Philosophy, Vienna, Austria E-mail: erich.linder@vetmeduni.ac.at

Search for other papers by E. Linder in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed

Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 348â353

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004715509_057

Access via:

Dar Hadith al Hassania

Download PDF

In this paper I will address the relevance of the distinction between doing and allowing harm (DDA) in applied ethics focusing on veterinary ethics. Such a distinction can help professionals, in this case veterinarians, in reflecting on the demands inherent to their profession and how these relate to their personal identity. I will show this by first illustrating the DDA. According to this distinction â if we always have reasons to reduce harm â doing harm is harder to justify than merely allowing harm. Many utilitarians claim that such a distinction does not hold and that our positive duties are equivalent to our negative duties. Instead, advocates of the DDA hold that this distinction is necessary to grant an agent their integrity, meaning their capacity to pursue the life projects they are committed to and that constitute the image that they have of themselves. Were they responsible for all the harm they allow, they would have to give up on their life projects and instead pursue the projects that best maximise utility. This would lead them to think of themselves as an impersonal agent devoid of any idiosyncrasies and personal history. The DDA shows us how agents are depicted in different ways by its advocates and its opponents: on the one hand we are confronted with impartial agents, on the other, we are asked to consider the importance of oneâs personal identity. I will then show how this distinction is reflected also in practical contexts, such as those faced by veterinarians in catastrophic circumstances. I will argue that some essential elements of the veterinarian profession seem to demand to give equal consideration to the harm directly done and the harm allowed. This in turn threatens other aspects of the individual veterinarian. In fact, veterinarians are not just veterinarians, they are people with particular desires and life-projects. Assuming that there is no distinction between doing and allowing harm would threaten parts of their identity by burdening them with excessive negative responsibility.

Citation Info

Save
Cite
Email this content

Share link with colleague or librarian

You can email a link to this page to a colleague or librarian:
Email this content
or copy the link directly:

https://brill.edhh.ma/edcollchap-oa/book/9789004715509/BP000057.xml
The link was not copied. Your current browser may not support copying via this button.

Link copied successfully

Collapse
Expand

EurSafe2024 Proceedings

Back to the future - Sustainable innovations for ethical food production and consumption

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004715509

Publisher:: Wageningen Academic

Print Publication Date:: 03 Sep 2024

Subjects
- Life Sciences
  - General

Metrics

	All Time	Past 365 days	Past 30 Days
Abstract Views	0	0	0
Full Text Views	206	82	15
PDF Views & Downloads	164	86	12

African Studies	Education	Media Studies
American Studies	History	Middle East and Islamic Studies
Ancient Near East and Egypt	Human Rights and Humanitarian Law	Musicology
Art History	International Law	Philosophy
Asian Studies	International Relations	Religious Studies
Biblical Studies	Jewish Studies	Slavic and Eurasian Studies
Biology	Languages and Linguistics	Social Sciences
Book History and Cartography	Life Sciences	Theology and World Christianity
Classical Studies	Literature and Cultural Studies

Subjects

Authors

Open Access

Product Information

Company

Contact

Live and let die â The distinction between doing and allowing harm and the veterinarianâs integrity

Citation Info

Share link with colleague or librarian

EurSafe2024 Proceedings

Back to the future - Sustainable innovations for ethical food production and consumption

Table of Contents

Metrics

Metrics

Live and let die â The distinction between doing and allowing harm and the veterinarianâs integrity