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Essay The Side-Effect Effect

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The Side-Effect Effect There are side effects to almost every action people take. Getting rid of insects in a home can cause harm to the environment, or even poison pets within the household. Studying for a test can cause lack of sleep, and ultimately poorer health. Throwing away the remains of an unfinished dinner plate discards what could have been valuable nutrients for starving children in Africa. How one determines intentionality of an action has been a controversial topic for many. Joshua Knobe has conducted experiments for explaining the proper analysis of intentional action, while Uttich and Lombrozo have conducted experiments exploring the relationship between norms and mental state ascriptions in terms of intentional actions. …show more content…

People are more willing to say a side effect occurred intentionally when they interpret that side effect as bad than they are when that side effect is good. Uttich and Lombrozo also studied the side-effect effect, but explained it differently than Knobe did. They said that the side-effect effect, the differences in ascribed mental states and traits pertaining to intentionality of an action, is due to the side effect’s norm status as opposed to moral status. They named this view the Rational Scientist view. While Knobe suggested the moral status of a side-effect influenced judgments on intentionality, Uttich and Lombrozo suggested that norm status is sufficient alone in producing the side-effect effect. Specifically, they said that norm-violating behavior that outweighs the reason to observe the norm is more informative in explaining intentionality of side effects compared to norm-conforming behavior. By default, people usually follow the norms, unless some sufficiently strong reason compels them to violate them. The Rational Scientist view is consistent with the Theory of Mind, in that internal states support explanation and prediction of behavior, but adds the vital role of norms in those predictions and explanations; moral norms affect Theory of Mind ascriptions by influencing mental state ascriptions. A third

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