Localized Restricted Aggregation

Abstract This chapter defends a restricted aggregationist view about harm prevention. Restricted aggregationist views claim that preventing an aggregation of smaller harms to many people can justify failing to save a smaller number of people from larger harms in cases where the difference between the harms is not too great. The view defended here is that even if preventing an aggregation of smaller harms cannot justify failing to save a person from a much larger harm by counting against preventing the larger harm, they can justify the decision not to save a person from a much larger harm by counterbalancing other reasons there might be to save the person from a much larger harm. This view is shown to be preferable to a more familiar restricted aggregationist view, where the prevention of smaller harms makes no contribution to the decision not to save a person from a larger harm at all.