O'Neill O
Hastings Cent Rep. 2001 Jul-Aug;31(4):15-23.
Those who deny that general principles are important for moral deliberation have mostly misunderstood how principles work. Principles do not give us algorithms for living. They identify broad requirements we must live up to, but they do not actually tell us what to do. We are left instead to craft responses that honor our general commitments using the materials of the case at hand.
那些否认一般原则对道德审议很重要的人大多误解了原则的作用方式。原则并非为我们提供生活的算法。它们确定了我们必须遵守的宽泛要求,但实际上并没有告诉我们该做什么。相反,我们需要利用手头案例的素材,精心做出符合我们一般承诺的回应。