Comment on Welcome to Less Wrong! (2012)

Thu, 21 Aug 2014 10:27:49 GMT

You can get more optimal pragmatism if you throw the concept away, and shoot straight for optimal outcomes.

Hmmm. So, in short, you propose first deciding on what the best outcome will be, and then (ignoring the question of who deserves what) taking the actions that are most likely to lead to that outcome.

That seems quite reasonable at first glance; but is it not the same thing as saying that the ends justify the means? That is to say, if the optimal outcome of a situation can only be reached by killing five people and an almost-as-good outcome results from not killing those five people, then would you consider it appropriate to kill those five people?

Discuss