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ArisKatsaris comments on Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, part 14, chapter 82 - Less Wrong Discussion
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This is a rather blatant method of disguising a deontological ('ethical') demand as a utilitarian calculation. You can easily transform any deontology of "Do X" into a utilitarian calculation by asserting 'I assign zero utility to my life if I fail to do X'.
But it does not seem likely that this was truly what was going through Lily Potter's mind.
It actually seems very likely that that's exactly what was going through Lily's mind. Whether it should have been is a whole other question, but that seems like the most plausible thought for a parent who's faced with the imminent murder of her child.
I don't think that's how 'thought' works. In situations like that is it not more like this?
Okay, that's true too. But the reflexive denial would probably be based on that, if she were capable of stepping back a bit in the moment.
I think that's the basis of some of Harry's internal conversations. In particular, the one in the middle of the end-of-trial deal. He didn't actually stop and think through all of those different facets to his decisions, that conversation is instead what it would have sounded like if he had. In actual experience, it was probably a mental flurry of easily recognized but half-formed thoughts that momentarily caused a system crash in his explicit thinking. He ends up just taking the least embarrassing route, the one where he could behave in retrospect like his actions had been consciously and consistently principled.