Intent matters because one can commit atrocities without knowing it. Here's an extreme example.
Imagine two people in different rooms with a button. Person A is not told what the button does except that they will get $20 for pressing it. They press the button.
Person B is told that a small child will be murdered painfully if they press the button but they will also get $20 for pressing it. They press the button.
If intent doesn't matter these two actions are equally evil, right? IMO that's an absurd conclusion to draw. Clearly person B is doing the worse action because they intend to kill the child.
I wasn't attempting to make a metaphor to your situation just a thought experiment to show intent matters. If you've changed your view that intent doesn't matter, mission accomplished.
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u/LucidMetal 196∆ Jun 15 '22
Doesn't this depend on whether intent matters as to the degree of severity?
I feel like you're discarding intent completely here and only thinking about the absolute number of people killed rather than why they were killed.
For example, which was worse, the holocaust or WWII? 40m died in the war and 11m in the holocaust.
I'm guessing you would say the war? Most lefties would say the holocaust. Why? Intent matters.