blink comments on Degrees of Radical Honesty - Less Wrong

30 Post author: MBlume 31 March 2009 08:36PM

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Comment author: blink 01 April 2009 02:49:22AM 3 points [-]

I am having trouble with the Nazi scenario because it seems paradoxical. Hiding is implicitly lying, so the always honest person should not be able to get into this situation in the first place. (The family could make this explicit simply by asking what you would do if the Nazis came.) Turning the family away may lead to horrible deaths as well, so this may not be an improvement. One may simply be the type of person who is too honest to hide a fugitive, no matter the benefit.

Comment author: Rings_of_Saturn 01 April 2009 04:44:10AM 4 points [-]

Yes, I think that you are just shunting the moral problem here down the pike.

Maybe you can imagine you just discovered Anne Frank's family was living in your attic moments before the brownshirts come knocking?

... and resume with dilemma.