Central European Papers 2021, 9(1):69-82 | DOI: 10.25142/cep.2021.004

„Trolleyology” and autonomous vehicles – moral and legal questions on the application of the doctrine of double effect

Lea PŐDÖR1
1 Széchenyi István University, Gyor, Deák Ferenc Faculty of Law and Political Sciences

The paper focuses on a classical problem of ethics and law: the doctrine of double effect (DDE). Nowadays the doctrine is more and more popular since AI-technology and super- intelligent machines have been developing rapidly. Maybe autonomous vehicles’ most difficult dilemma is the following scenario: an autonomous car gets into an extreme road accident (collision) and the software should “decide” which direction-alternative to choose, but all of those possibilities end with death of human(s). This is a problem which requires  a morally and legally justified answer. The principle emphasizes how to achieve a moral justification, what can be the classical cases of DDE and how to solve the most famous classical case, the trolley problem – which can be analogous to autonomous cars’ collision- case. The paper also higlights whether the doctrine is relevant from the perspective of legal justification and legal solutions, too.

Keywords: autonomous vehicles, doctrine of double effect, law and morals, moral decisionmaking, moral justification of acts, intention

Received: March 26, 2021; Revised: March 26, 2021; Accepted: June 28, 2021; Published: November 10, 2021  Show citation

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PŐDÖR L. „Trolleyology” and autonomous vehicles – moral and legal questions on the application of the doctrine of double effect. Central European Papers. 2021;9(1):69-82. doi: 10.25142/cep.2021.004.
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