The Ethics of Self-Sacrifice

Abstract

Drawing on the preceding accounts of intention, moral value, and double effect reasoning, this chapter proposes an ethics of self-sacrifice. It argues that acts of self-sacrifice are morally good only when they do not intentionally frustrate our natural inclinations, and when we gain more than we lose. Otherwise, they are morally defective. The same applies to scenarios where we sacrifice our own lives. While it is never morally acceptable to commit suicide by intending our own death, no matter the benefits to others, double effect reasoning shows that it can be acceptable, and even heroic, to cause our own death non-intentionally for the sake of some greater good. In later chapters, these conclusions about sacrifice and self-sacrifice are applied to theological narratives of the crucifixion, and especially Christ’s supreme act of self-sacrifice on the cross.