<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The principle of double effect--also known as the rule of double effect; the doctrine of double effect, often abbreviated as DDE or PDE, double - effect reasoning; or simply double effect--is a set of ethical criteria which Christian philosophers, and some others, have advocated for evaluating the permissibility of acting when one's otherwise legitimate act (for example, relieving a terminally ill patient's pain) may also cause an effect one would otherwise be obliged to avoid (sedation and a slightly shortened life). The first known example of double - effect reasoning is Thomas Aquinas' treatment of homicidal self - defense, in his work Summa Theologica . </P> <P> This set of criteria states that an action having foreseen harmful effects practically inseparable from the good effect is justifiable if the following are true: </P>

Who came up with the principle of double effect