• SleepyMarxist [none/use name]
      ·
      4 years ago

      No, it makes sense in the context it was made for, which is illustrating the difference between deontology and consequentialism.

        • SleepyMarxist [none/use name]
          ·
          4 years ago

          Consequentialism covers all morality that's based in the outcomes of actions. Utilitarianism is the kind of consequentialism focused on maximizing happiness. Deontology is rules-based morality.

          I think hypotheticals can be useful as long as the example actually is universifiable. In the trolley problem, the real question is "Is it okay to directly cause a bad thing to happen if it will prevent a worse thing (which you did not directly cause) from happening" which is IMO a worthwhile question to ask whose answer is applicable to many different scenarios. I think it's possible to misapply a hypothetical, since the scenarios might not actually be comparable, but if they are, I think we should apply our principles consistently, and having hypotheticals helps us do that.

        • SchillMenaker [he/him]
          ·
          4 years ago

          Oh shit, I took it literally. I thought I was teaching philosophy but I guess I've just been murdering people this whole time.

  • Tychoxii [he/him, they/them]
    ·
    4 years ago

    the person was replaced by another and the incentive structures to tie people to the tracks remain

  • infuziSporg [e/em/eir]
    ·
    4 years ago

    With the plunger of a toilet, heaps upon heaps, with the plunger of a toilet I have slain a thousand executioners.

  • happybadger [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    Just in time for Trolley Problem: COVID Edition. How will you kill the fewest number of people buying groceries and which demographics do you choose?

      • happybadger [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        If I don't buy groceries I die, and while that's a benefit my dog refuses to eat unless I'm standing over him to protect him. So that option would kill a dog too, while most of those 70 year-old underemployed workers voted for neoliberals and conservatives.

        It's a trolley with a full team of moral accountants on board.