Rachels Argues That It Is Incorrect to Claim That a Doctor

question 135

Essay

Rachels argues that it is incorrect to claim that a doctor who allows his patient to die truly "does nothing" to cause the death of his patient. Describe in your own words another case in which an agent who refrains from a certain type action would not correctly be described as having "done nothing." Explain why it would be wrong to ascribe inaction rather than action to the agent in this case.

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Definitions:

Perfectly Negatively Correlated

Describes two variables that move in opposite directions; if one increases, the other decreases.

Global Minimum Variance Portfolio

An investment portfolio that is designed to have the lowest possible risk (variance) for the expected return, part of modern portfolio theory.

Standard Deviation

A measure of the dispersion or variability in a set of data points, indicating the degree of risk or volatility.

Probability Distribution

A statistical tool that maps out every possible outcome along with its probability for a random variable within a predefined scope.