I think some moral views, e.g. some rights-based ones or ones with strong deontological constraints, would pretty necessarily disavow atrocities on principle, not just for fairly contingent reasons based on anticipated consequences like (act) utilitarians would. Some such views could also still rank issues.
I think failing to act can itself be atrocious. For example, the failure of rich nations to intervene in the Rwandan genocide was an atrocity. Further, I expect Peter Singer to agree that this was an atrocity. Therefore, I do not think that deontological commitments are sufficient to prevent oneself from being party to atrocities.
You could have deontological commitments to prevent atrocities, too, but with an overriding commitment that you shouldn’t actively commit an atrocity, even in order to prevent a greater one. Or, something like a harm-minimizing consequentialism with deontological constraints against actively committing atrocities.
Of course, you still have to prioritize and can make mistakes, which means some atrocities may go ignored, but I think this takes away the intuitive repugnance and moral blameworthiness.
I think some moral views, e.g. some rights-based ones or ones with strong deontological constraints, would pretty necessarily disavow atrocities on principle, not just for fairly contingent reasons based on anticipated consequences like (act) utilitarians would. Some such views could also still rank issues.
I basically agree with the rest.
I think failing to act can itself be atrocious. For example, the failure of rich nations to intervene in the Rwandan genocide was an atrocity. Further, I expect Peter Singer to agree that this was an atrocity. Therefore, I do not think that deontological commitments are sufficient to prevent oneself from being party to atrocities.
You could have deontological commitments to prevent atrocities, too, but with an overriding commitment that you shouldn’t actively commit an atrocity, even in order to prevent a greater one. Or, something like a harm-minimizing consequentialism with deontological constraints against actively committing atrocities.
Of course, you still have to prioritize and can make mistakes, which means some atrocities may go ignored, but I think this takes away the intuitive repugnance and moral blameworthiness.