= 27d567bc2d48d9f40e9ccc20ea370b15)
Unnamed comments on Human errors, human values - Less Wrong
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
= 783df68a0f980790206b9ea87794c5b6)
Loading…= b715d02e85f7b3b4ae65ca3d3e450868)
Subscribe to RSS Feed
Powered by Reddit
= f037147d6e6c911a85753b9abdedda8d)
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
Comments (135)
Of course you can add factors to the thought experiment that even while following utilitarianism will make you decide not to harvest the traveler for his organs. But that's also dodging the problem it tries to show -- the problem that sometimes being strictly utilitarian leads to uncomfortable conclusions -- that is, conclusions that conflict with the kind of 'folk', 'knee-jerk' morality we seem to have.
It depends what you consider the starting point for building the scenario. If you start by taking the story seriously as a real-world scenario, taking place in a real hospital with real people, then these are relevant considerations that would naturally arise as you were thinking through the problem, not additional factors that need to be added on. The work comes in removing factors to turn the scenario into an idealized thought experiment that boxes utilitarianism into one side, in opposition to our intuitive moral judgments. And if it's necessary to make extensive or unrealistic stipulations in order to rule out seemingly important considerations, then that raises questions about how much we should be concerned about this thought experiment.