komponisto comments on [Poll] Less Wrong and Mainstream Philosophy: How Different are We? - Less Wrong

38 Post author: Jayson_Virissimo 26 September 2012 12:25PM

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Comment author: pragmatist 26 September 2012 03:28:05PM 11 points [-]

Trolley problem: There is a trolley traveling along a set of tracks. The driver has lost control of the trolley. On the track ahead of the trolley are five people who cannot get off the track in time and will all die if the trolley gets to them. You are standing next to a lever that can switch the track the trolley will take, preventing the deaths of the five people. On the other track is a single person who also cannot get away in time and so will die if you switch the track. Do you refrain from switching the track ("straight") or do you switch the track ("turn")?

Comment author: komponisto 27 September 2012 03:49:56PM 0 points [-]

Other. The more relevant question is what kind of laws I would enact, rather than what I as an individual would do in the situation.

Comment author: thomblake 27 September 2012 04:33:57PM 0 points [-]

Relevant to what? It's usually brought up in discussion of ethics, not law.

Comment author: komponisto 27 September 2012 04:58:27PM 1 point [-]

If this situation actually arose, there is a substantial possibility that I would not switch the track, in order to avoid being prosecuted for murder. This isn't to say that I "endorse" that (in)action; I would prefer a legal code under which that wouldn't happen, and would vote for legislators who committed to changing the law in that way.

Discussions of "law" aren't discussions of which laws to make; those are called discussions of "policy", and they are in my opinion the place where ethical considerations are most relevant.