The Moral Black Hole

Abstract

It is commonly believed that people become selfish and turn to looting, price gouging, and other immoral behaviour in emergencies. This has been the basis for an argument justifying extraordinary measures in emergencies. It states that if emergencies are not curtailed, breakdown of moral norms threaten ('the moral black hole'). Using the example of natural disasters, we argue that the validity of this argument in non-antagonistic situations, i.e. situations other than war and armed conflict, is highly questionable. Available evidence suggests that people in such emergencies typically do not display panic reactions or exaggerated selfishness, and that phenomena such as looting and price gouging are rare. Furthermore, a version of the moral-black-hole argument based on the mere possibility of a moral black hole occurring runs into problems similar to those of Pascal's Wager. We conclude that we should be wary against applying the moral-black-hole argument to non-antagonistic cases.

Conceptualizations of Disasters in Philosophy

“…Second, we can probably expect philosophers to devote increased attention to empirical work, in particular such work as regards human behavior, for instance psychology and social psychology (cf. Sandin and Wester 2009). This is in line with a general trend in contemporary philosophy: Analytic philosophers, now to a greater extent than before, are paying attention to behavioral sciences and their implications for philosophy and ethics, and this might lead to changes in disaster preparation and response.…”

“…This nuances an argument made by Sorell in earlier work(Sorell 2003; see also comments bySandin and Wester 2009).2 Conceptualizations of Disasters in Philosophy…”

Disaster myths among disaster response professionals and the source of such misconceptions

“…Since then, these myths have been found in North America (Quarantelli & Dynes, ; Wenger, ; Wenger et al., ), Europe (Alexander, ; Drury, Novelli, & Stott, ), and East Asia (Nogami, , ; Nogami & Yoshida, ). Although numerous disaster researchers have been contending for more than half a century that disaster myths do not properly reflect actual human behaviour in postdisaster situations (Barton, ; Fritz & Mathewson, ; Quarantelli, , ; Quarantelli & Dynes, , ; Wenger et al., ), these myths still seem widespread among lay people in modern society (Auf der Heide, ; Nogami, , ; Nogami & Yoshida, ; Quarantelli, , ; Rodríguez et al., ; Sandin & Wester, ; Tierney et al., ).…”

Citizens and Contingencies – Swedish Crisis Managers’ Views of the Public

“…As mentioned, scholarly writings about citizens' reactions in crisis situations have often been concerned with depictions of stereotypical conduct such as irrational or antisocial behaviour. Most empirical studies refute these images, in fact demonstrating a widespread solidarity and willingness to help among citizens in general (see Tierney et al 2006;Sandin and Wester 2009). This knowledge contributes to a realistic and nuanced picture of the general public, which is the basis for a wellfunctioning interplay between crisis managers and citizens.…”

“…Research on crisis behaviour in a European, and more in particular, a Swedish context, has come to similar results. For instance, there is little or no evidence of a 'moral black hole' during and in the aftermath of crises (Sandin and Wester 2009). Further, in a turbulent, confusing and perhaps terrifying situation like a disaster, normal human conduct is likely to change, for instance becoming fearful when facing an extreme situation (Perry and Lindell 2003a).…”