Deontology’s power in the hard cases comes from three distinctions: intending versus foreseeing, doing versus allowing, and using versus harming. Morph the case along the dials, make your own call, and watch which principle tracks your judgment — and where it abandons you.
Build the case
1 · What you do
2 · Where the lethal threat comes from
3 · The victim’s part in the rescue
4 · How many people are saved
5
Your call
What the principles say
Doctrine of double effect
Formula of Humanity
Doing versus allowing
Absolutes and thresholds
Which constraint are we testing?
Your line: this constraint gives way once the number saved reaches
never
Your pattern so far
Make a call on at least two variants and this will tell you which principle your judgments are actually tracking.