To what extent should our intentions be judged instead of our actions?

By: Miguel Nascimento Barata

How to properly judge one’s actions have been a debate that humans have struggled with since the early days of our species. Should their intentions be considered? Or should we only pay attention to the consequences of one’s actions? Some may argue that the intentions of an individual are meaningless if the consequences negatively affect at least another person, or even that all that matters are one’s intentions when performing said actions and that consequences are often outside of one’s control. The easiest way to discuss and evaluate this topic is to consider both sides and in what situations both would be valid, analyzing the strengths and limitations of both.

After interviewing some students, it became clear that one of the main arguments for intentions being the most important factor is that you are able to fully control your intentions but are sometimes unable to control the consequences of your action due to unforeseen outside factors. It is possible for someone to have the intention of helping someone but instead end up doing more harm than good. Moreover, the opposite can happen and good can come from bad intentions. Therefore, should a person be blamed for causing harm when they did not intend or even try to cause it? Should a person be able to take credit for any good cause that was not intended? Intentions also often influence the consequences of our actions, as consequences often come from how our intentions shape how we go about the action, directly influencing the consequences of said action. While this is the case, there were also people who made the different argument that intentions should only be the deciding factor on the person’s reaction if the harm caused is not too severe, as in those scenarios the person did not intentionally do a lot of harm, but there are obvious cases where the person should be held accountable no matter what their intentions were, an example of this being a car accident.

Of the people interviewed, there were also others who argued for the opposite side: that consequences are more important than the intentions of the person. This side of the debate argues that if something negative happens to you, such as the loss of a loved one or life altering injuries, that the intentions of the perpetrator wouldn’t serve as consolation or even justification, as the amount of harm done here outweighs any good intention that the person might have. Stakes are crucial when discerning the affects of actions and if they are high intentions stop being relevant due to the overwhelming consequences. Moreover, people have argued that intentions don’t have any tangible value. They can’t be measured or even observed, while consequences are something that affect others and can be measured, even if not immediately. Intentions only obtain any value through consequences, regardless of if they are consequences that are currently being felt or future consequences that can arrive from those intentions.

After analysis, its obvious that there is an incredibly strong correlation between both consequences and intentions, as consequences are often largely influenced and shaped by our intentions but intentions themselves do not have value when separated from the concept of consequences, but once again, there is an intention behind every consequence even if it does not actively correspond, which proves that both are important when analyzing how to perceive actions.

Sources Utilised:

Bing, Microsoft, https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=Qkm43%2BQP&id=64D686C5114B2EB4743DE7882D39105158B5619B&thid=OIP.Qkm43-QPdrtN4L3EuBxKWAHaE6&mediaurl=https%3A%2F%2Feverything-voluntary.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F03%2Fjudgment-768x510.jpg&cdnurl=https%3A%2F%2Fth.bing.com%2Fth%2Fid%2FR.4249b8dfe40f76bb4de0bdc4b81c4a58%3Frik%3Dm2G1WFEQOS2I5w%26pid%3DImgRaw%26r%3D0&exph=510&expw=768&q=actions%2Bjudgement&simid=608023896248759461&FORM=IRPRST&ck=3928BE0377A875EF68F8A5919F09CA28&selectedIndex=0&mode=overlay.

“Consequences and Intentions.” Pratyush Pandey, 27 June 2022, https://pratyushpandey.com/consequences-and-intentions/.

“Intention or Consequences?” The Philosophy Forum, https://thephilosophyforum.com/discussion/1325/intention-or-consequences#:~:text=In%20ethics%2C%20consequences%20are%20now%20generally%20considered%20more,law%20and%20morality%2C%20intent%20is%20usually%20more%20important.

Interviews with OIS students