Harm is a

moral A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. ...

and

legal Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a Socia ...

concept with multiple definitions. It generally functions as a synonym for

evil Evil, as a concept, is usually defined as profoundly immoral behavior, and it is related to acts that cause unnecessary pain and suffering to others. Evil is commonly seen as the opposite, or sometimes absence, of good. It can be an extreme ...

or anything that is bad under certain moral systems. Something that causes harm is harmful, and something that does not is harmless.

Philosophical construction

Moral philosopher

Bernard Gert Bernard Gert (; October 16, 1934 – December 24, 2011) was a ethics, moral philosopher known primarily for his work in normative ethics, as well as in medical ethics, especially pertaining to psychology. His work has been called "among th ...

construed harm (or "evil") as any of the following: *

pain Pain is a distressing feeling often caused by intense or damaging Stimulus (physiology), stimuli. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sense, sensory and emotional experience associated with, or res ...

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

disability Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be Cognitive disability, cognitive, Developmental disability, d ...

* mortality * loss of abil ity or

freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

* loss of

pleasure Pleasure is experience that feels good, that involves the enjoyment of something. It contrasts with pain or suffering, which are forms of feeling bad. It is closely related to value, desire and action: humans and other conscious animals find ...

. Joel Feinberg gives an account of harm as setbacks to interests. He distinguishes ''welfare interests'' from ''ulterior interests''. Hence on his view there are two kinds of harm. '' Welfare interests'' are ''Ulterior interests'' are "a person's more ultimate goals and aspirations", such as "producing good novels or works of art, solving a crucial scientific problem, achieving high political office, successfully raising a family". Many philosophers have proposed variations of moral obligations to avoid causing harm, or have promoted harmlessness as a virtue, and ethical frameworks have been developed considering harmlessness as a principle in decision-making and social interactions. The phrase, "do no harm" (in Latin "'' Primum non nocere''"), is a popular medical ethic. According to Gonzalo Herranz, Professor of Medical Ethics at the University of Navarre, ''Primum non nocere'' was introduced into American and

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

medical culture by Worthington Hooker in his 1847 book ''Physician and Patient''. Hooker attributed it to the

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

ian pathologist and clinician Auguste François Chomel (1788–1858), the successor of Laennec in the chair of medical pathology, and the preceptor of Pierre Louis. Apparently, the axiom was part of Chomel's oral teaching. Hooker, however, was quoting an earlier work by Elisha Bartlett who, on pages 288–289, says "The golden axiom of Chomel, that it is only the second law of therapeutics to do good, its first law being this – not to do harm – is gradually finding its way into the medical mind, preventing an incalculable amount of positive ill". A detailed investigation of the origins of the aphorism was reported by the clinical pharmacologist Cedric M. Smith in the April 2005 issue of '' The Journal of Clinical Pharmacology''. It addresses the questions of the origin and chronology of appearance of the maxim. Rather than being of ancient origin as usually assumed, the specific expression, and its even more distinctive associated Latin phrase, has been traced back to an attribution to

Thomas Sydenham Thomas Sydenham (; 10 September 1624 – 29 December 1689) was an England, English physician. He was the author of ''Observationes Medicae'' (1676) which became a standard textbook of medicine for two centuries so that he became known as 'The ...

(1624–1689) in a book by

Thomas Inman Thomas Inman (27 January 1820 – 3 May 1876) was a house-surgeon to the Liverpool Royal Infirmary. In his lifetime he had numerous medical papers published. He was also an amateur mythologist, and wrote ''Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Sym ...

(1860), ''Foundation for a New Theory and Practice of Medicine''. Inman's book and his attribution were reviewed by an author who signed simply as "H. H." in ''

The American Journal of the Medical Sciences ''The American Journal of the Medical Sciences'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal. History The journal was established in 1820 as the ''Philadelphia Journal of the Medical and Physical Sciences'' by Nathaniel Chapman. A new series wa ...

'', also in 1860.

Medical classifications

In the UK, harm is classified in a medical context as "severe", "moderate" or "mild". Severe harm is associated with resulting permanent

, whereas mild and moderate harm can be resolved over a period of time. Medical reporting duties and the statutory

duty of candour In UK public law, the duty of candour is the duty imposed on a public authority "not to seek to win litigation at all costs but to assist the court in reaching the correct result and thereby to improve standards in public administration." Lor ...

are associated with moderate and severe harm and also with "prolonged psychological harm".

Harm reduction

Self Harm and Harm to Others of the most common Drugs

Harm reduction, or harm minimization, refers to a range of intentional practices and

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

policies designed to lessen the negative social and/or physical consequences associated with various human behaviors, both legal and illegal. Harm reduction is used to decrease negative consequences of

recreational drug use Recreational drug use is the use of one or more psychoactive drugs to induce an altered state of consciousness, either for pleasure or for some other casual purpose or pastime. When a psychoactive drug enters the user's body, it induces an Sub ...

and sexual activity without requiring abstinence, recognizing that those unable or unwilling to stop can still make positive change to protect themselves and others. Harm Reduction Drug Testing Table

Harm reduction is most commonly applied to approaches that reduce adverse consequences from drug use, and harm reduction programs now operate across a range of services and in different regions of the world. As of 2020, some 86 countries had one or more programs using a harm reduction approach to substance use, primarily aimed at reducing blood-borne infections resulting from use of contaminated injecting equipment.

References

Sources

* Feinberg, Joel. 1984. ''The Moral Limits of the Criminal Law, Volume 1: Harm to Others.'' New York: Oxford University Press. * Bernard Gert, ''Common Morality'', Oxford University Press, 2004.

External links