Internal Judging

Nagel is right that the self slowly loses the ability to judge simply on intents, as the outcomes of those intents slowly become apparent and suddenly seem more relevant and important. However, I disagree with Nagel that we lose all ability to distinguish the action from the intent as the consequences become apparent. I think even our society understands this; hence the distinguishing between first and second degree murder, for example. Even his case regarding murder and attempted murder faces a challenge. In the case of attempted murder, more often than not, doubt remains about whether the attempted murderer could really accomplish the task. No matter how important and overriding the action may seem, I think people can still study the intent. Even in the case of dictators and murderers like Hitler, historians and others still often seek to see the intent and motives behind the behaviors of Hitler and others. And I think that this is relevant, since I think at least part of the reason for moral judgments and codes is utilitarian. If you can understand the reasons behind bad actions (which are the motives and intents, often willful but sometimes not), then you can often prevent bad behavior and encourage good behavior.