The Side Effect There are side effects to almost every action people take. Eliminating insects in your home can cause damage to the environment or even poison pets. Studying for an exam can cause lack of sleep and ultimately health problems. Throwing away the remains of an unfinished dish means eliminating what could have been precious nourishment for starving African children. How one determines the intentionality of an action has been a controversial topic for many. Joshua Knobe conducted experiments to explain the correct analysis of intentional action, while Uttich and Lombrozo conducted experiments exploring the relationship between norms and ascriptions of mental states in terms of intentional actions. This article will review the results of one of Knobe's studies, explain the side effect from the perspective of Uttich and Lombrozo, and offer an alternative explanation for the side effect. Knobe's first experiment tested whether judgments of intentionality were influenced by whether the side effect of an action was good or bad. His experiment consisted of subjects reading about a person, the president of a company, who was interested in starting a new program to increase profits. Some subjects were presented with a scenario in which the new program would harm the environment, while others were told how the program would help the environment. In both cases, the president didn't care about the side effect; the purpose of this new program was to earn more money. Subjects were then asked to determine how much blame or praise the person should receive for harming or helping the environment. The results of this experiment showed that the majority of subjects thought that the person was intent… in the center of the card… effect. People should be held accountable for the harmful side effects caused, especially since they are considered intentional. Additionally, when legal issues are involved, jurors should consider the fact that people will try to avoid harmful side effects. If harmful side effects occur, jurors should assume they were intentional unless there is clear evidence to the contrary. That is, jurors should assume that those side effects were caused on purpose, with the person performing the action fully aware of the risks involved. References Knobe, Joshua. "Intentional action and side effects in ordinary language". Oxford Journals 63.3 (2003): 190-94. JStor. Oxford University Press.Uttich, Kevin and Tania Lombrozo. “Norms inform mental state ascriptions: A rational explanation for side effect.” Cognition 116 (2010): 87-100. Elsevier.