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The Trolley Problem

  • The problems arise when circumstances change
    • What if we're at a station with the lever and don't have the same amount of information?
    • What if we know someone on the tracks?
    • What if we push someone over a bridge to slow down the train and save everyone on the tracks?
  • Utilitarianism
    • Branch of consequentialism (only thing that matters is results)
    • The best action is what makes people the most happy (greatest happiness principle)
    • Developed by British philosophers Bentham (wanted himself studied and preserved after death) and Mill (had a rough childhood
  • [[benthams-scale]] is a way to quantify pleasure & pain (hedons & dolors - happiness points & sadness demerits)
  • Utilitarians believe all people's happiness matters equally
  • Correlation does not imply causation
    • Humans don't often know the consequences of their actions
  • Most human actions don't have all the information - before or after
  • Critiques of utilitarianism center on the wide differences between everybody's pleasure and pain
  • When our actions can cause pain and suffering as a result, utilitarianism fails to take into account our integrity
    • Advantage of utilitarianism is a straightforward distribution (those in need get the most)

[[how-to-be-perfect]]