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Full Idea
If a man does not respond to a greeting, if he was unaware that he was addressed then his failure to respond may be a mere omission. But if he intended to snub the man, then he could be said to have 'committed the omission'.
Gist of Idea
There are mere omissions (through ignorance, perhaps), and people can 'commit an omission'
Source
Roderick Chisholm (Person and Object [1976], 2.6)
Book Ref
Chisholm,Roderick: 'Person and Object' [Open Court 1976], p.73
A Reaction
Chisholm has an extensive knowledge of Catholic theology. These neat divisions are subject to vagueness and a continuum of cases in real life.
| 20869 | The highest degree of morality performs all that is appropriate, omitting nothing [Chrysippus] |
| 7404 | Nations are not obliged to help one-another, but are obliged not to harm one another [Grotius, by Tuck] |
| 15824 | There are mere omissions (through ignorance, perhaps), and people can 'commit an omission' [Chisholm] |
| 4692 | It is not true that killing and allowing to die (or acts and omissions) are morally indistinguishable [Foot] |
| 4694 | Making a runaway tram kill one person instead of five is diverting a fatal sequence, not initiating one [Foot] |
| 6998 | Folk morality does not clearly distinguish between doing and allowing [Jackson] |
| 6479 | Noninterference requires justification as much as interference does [Nagel] |
| 4658 | Acts and Omissions: bad consequences are morally better if they result from an omission rather than an act [Glover] |
| 4659 | It doesn't seem worse to switch off a life-support machine than to forget to switch it on [Glover] |
| 4660 | Harmful omissions are unavoidable, while most harmful acts can be avoided [Glover] |
| 20881 | The act/omission distinction is important for duties, but less so for consequences [LaFollette] |
| 21136 | Utilitarians conflate acts and omissions; causing to drown and failing to save are the same [Shorten] |