F. M. Kamm
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195189698
- eISBN:
- 9780199851096
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195189698.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
Peter Unger has tried to show that relying on intuitive judgments is a worthless methodology for finding principles, and he has also offered a novel approach to the Trolley Problem. Unger, however, ...
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Peter Unger has tried to show that relying on intuitive judgments is a worthless methodology for finding principles, and he has also offered a novel approach to the Trolley Problem. Unger, however, deals not only with the questions of when may we harm some to help others and how we can best reason about this issue. He also considers how much we must sacrifice in order to stop strangers from suffering serious losses and whether our distance from them alters our obligations. Unger's ground for claiming that intuitive judgments in cases are worthless is that we can construct cases that generate the opposite intuitive judgments. He thinks that we must decide which intuitive judgments are correct and what to do by consulting general moral values, such as the importance of reducing suffering and death. This chapter examines Peter Unger's views on the permissibility of harming innocent bystanders and the duty to harm ourselves in order to aid others.Less
Peter Unger has tried to show that relying on intuitive judgments is a worthless methodology for finding principles, and he has also offered a novel approach to the Trolley Problem. Unger, however, deals not only with the questions of when may we harm some to help others and how we can best reason about this issue. He also considers how much we must sacrifice in order to stop strangers from suffering serious losses and whether our distance from them alters our obligations. Unger's ground for claiming that intuitive judgments in cases are worthless is that we can construct cases that generate the opposite intuitive judgments. He thinks that we must decide which intuitive judgments are correct and what to do by consulting general moral values, such as the importance of reducing suffering and death. This chapter examines Peter Unger's views on the permissibility of harming innocent bystanders and the duty to harm ourselves in order to aid others.
Victor Tadros
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199554423
- eISBN:
- 9780191731341
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199554423.003.0007
- Subject:
- Law, Criminal Law and Criminology, Philosophy of Law
The traditional, but now unfashionable, interpretation of the means principle is that it is worse to harm a person intentionally than it is to harm them as a side-effect of one's actions. This ...
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The traditional, but now unfashionable, interpretation of the means principle is that it is worse to harm a person intentionally than it is to harm them as a side-effect of one's actions. This account of the means principle regards the motivations of wrongdoers as important in determining whether or not an action is permissible. Many people now think that motivations cannot play a role in determining what is right or wrong. What is right or wrong is to be determined by the effects of the actions on others, and not by the motivations of the person doing the action. It is outwardly that we ought to look when deciding what to do, they claim, rather than inwardly. Chapter 7 defends a version of the traditional interpretation against this objection. It is argued that motivations with which an action is done are central to its permissibility.Less
The traditional, but now unfashionable, interpretation of the means principle is that it is worse to harm a person intentionally than it is to harm them as a side-effect of one's actions. This account of the means principle regards the motivations of wrongdoers as important in determining whether or not an action is permissible. Many people now think that motivations cannot play a role in determining what is right or wrong. What is right or wrong is to be determined by the effects of the actions on others, and not by the motivations of the person doing the action. It is outwardly that we ought to look when deciding what to do, they claim, rather than inwardly. Chapter 7 defends a version of the traditional interpretation against this objection. It is argued that motivations with which an action is done are central to its permissibility.
Peter Unger
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195108590
- eISBN:
- 9780199868261
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195108590.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
The distortional psychological tendencies that promote misleading responses to moral cases not linked to lessening distant suffering are difficult to identify given the complexities in accounting for ...
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The distortional psychological tendencies that promote misleading responses to moral cases not linked to lessening distant suffering are difficult to identify given the complexities in accounting for our responses to cases of ethically serious causal conflict. This difficulty lessens when we consider several‐option moral problems with at least two ‘active’ options rather than classic two‐option cases like the trolley problem, which distinguish between initiating and allowing. The features of several‐option cases liberate us from the influence of constraining factors that inhibit us from responding positively to loss‐lessening behavior. Whereas these highly subjective constraining factors, like protophysical thinking and projective separating, generate distorted moral responses, their positive counterparts, like projective grouping, show that since each person whom an agent's conduct might affect has an equal claim on his or her conduct, by his or her conduct there must occur the least serious suffering possible.Less
The distortional psychological tendencies that promote misleading responses to moral cases not linked to lessening distant suffering are difficult to identify given the complexities in accounting for our responses to cases of ethically serious causal conflict. This difficulty lessens when we consider several‐option moral problems with at least two ‘active’ options rather than classic two‐option cases like the trolley problem, which distinguish between initiating and allowing. The features of several‐option cases liberate us from the influence of constraining factors that inhibit us from responding positively to loss‐lessening behavior. Whereas these highly subjective constraining factors, like protophysical thinking and projective separating, generate distorted moral responses, their positive counterparts, like projective grouping, show that since each person whom an agent's conduct might affect has an equal claim on his or her conduct, by his or her conduct there must occur the least serious suffering possible.
David Copp
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199653492
- eISBN:
- 9780191741661
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199653492.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
Moral and political philosophers commonly appeal to moral “intuitions” at crucial points in their reasoning. This chapter considers recent challenges to this practice—here referred to as “the ...
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Moral and political philosophers commonly appeal to moral “intuitions” at crucial points in their reasoning. This chapter considers recent challenges to this practice—here referred to as “the Method”—based in empirical studies of moral intuitions. It contends that such studies do not justify radical or revisionary conclusions about the Method. A method is aimed at achieving certain goals. The key issue is the nature of the goals in relation to which the Method is to be evaluated. This chapter argues that the relevant goal is not the “realist goal” of discovering the truth about moral and political matters. The central point is that, the chapter argues, the systematic philosophical study of moral and political questions would be worthwhile even if it turned out that moral realism cannot be vindicated or that the Method cannot be vindicated in relation to the realist goal. If this is correct, then the goal relative to which it is crucial to vindicate the Method is not the realist goal. A Rawlsian view is more plausible, according to which the relevant goal is to “characterize our moral sensibility” as it would be in “reflective equilibrium.” It turns out, however, that this Rawlsian view has some, perhaps unwelcome, deflationary implications.Less
Moral and political philosophers commonly appeal to moral “intuitions” at crucial points in their reasoning. This chapter considers recent challenges to this practice—here referred to as “the Method”—based in empirical studies of moral intuitions. It contends that such studies do not justify radical or revisionary conclusions about the Method. A method is aimed at achieving certain goals. The key issue is the nature of the goals in relation to which the Method is to be evaluated. This chapter argues that the relevant goal is not the “realist goal” of discovering the truth about moral and political matters. The central point is that, the chapter argues, the systematic philosophical study of moral and political questions would be worthwhile even if it turned out that moral realism cannot be vindicated or that the Method cannot be vindicated in relation to the realist goal. If this is correct, then the goal relative to which it is crucial to vindicate the Method is not the realist goal. A Rawlsian view is more plausible, according to which the relevant goal is to “characterize our moral sensibility” as it would be in “reflective equilibrium.” It turns out, however, that this Rawlsian view has some, perhaps unwelcome, deflationary implications.
F. M. Kamm
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195144024
- eISBN:
- 9780199870998
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195144023.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
Morality, Mortality as a whole deals with certain aspects of ethical theory and with moral problems that arise primarily in contexts involving life‐and‐death decisions. The importance of ...
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Morality, Mortality as a whole deals with certain aspects of ethical theory and with moral problems that arise primarily in contexts involving life‐and‐death decisions. The importance of the theoretical issues is not limited to their relevance to these decisions; however, they are, rather, issues at the heart of basic moral and political theory. This second volume on rights, duties, and status explores life and death as general issues in non‐consequentalist ethical theory. It comprises three parts. Part I has five chapters discussing the question of the moral (in)equivalence of killing and letting die, harming, and not aiding. Part I has two chapters and offers a discussion of the so‐called ‘Trolley Problem’ and some other closely related dilemmatic situations, for the purpose of developing a principled account of when harming some to save others is permissible and when it is impermissible. Part III has five chapters and is concerned with the further examination of the relation between restrictions on conduct and prerogatives not to make sacrifices, and how these topics relate to human rights, duties, and the existence of valuable entities and states of affairs. In addition, it is concerned with the power of agreements and of supererogatory conduct to override restrictions.Less
Morality, Mortality as a whole deals with certain aspects of ethical theory and with moral problems that arise primarily in contexts involving life‐and‐death decisions. The importance of the theoretical issues is not limited to their relevance to these decisions; however, they are, rather, issues at the heart of basic moral and political theory. This second volume on rights, duties, and status explores life and death as general issues in non‐consequentalist ethical theory. It comprises three parts. Part I has five chapters discussing the question of the moral (in)equivalence of killing and letting die, harming, and not aiding. Part I has two chapters and offers a discussion of the so‐called ‘Trolley Problem’ and some other closely related dilemmatic situations, for the purpose of developing a principled account of when harming some to save others is permissible and when it is impermissible. Part III has five chapters and is concerned with the further examination of the relation between restrictions on conduct and prerogatives not to make sacrifices, and how these topics relate to human rights, duties, and the existence of valuable entities and states of affairs. In addition, it is concerned with the power of agreements and of supererogatory conduct to override restrictions.
F. M. Kamm
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- December 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780190247157
- eISBN:
- 9780190247188
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190247157.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
Lecture I begins with a brief history of changing views on what the Trolley Problem is and attempts to solve it. The lecture then critically examines Judith Thomson’s recent view that a moral ...
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Lecture I begins with a brief history of changing views on what the Trolley Problem is and attempts to solve it. The lecture then critically examines Judith Thomson’s recent view that a moral distinction between killing and letting die, and between what a conductor of the trolley or a mere bystander may do to save people from the trolley, eliminates what she now thinks of as the Trolley Problem. The last part considers a different argument for the conclusion that Thomson now favors, but ultimately attempts to resurrect the Trolley Problem, suggesting that it is not who turns the trolley that makes the turning permissible.Less
Lecture I begins with a brief history of changing views on what the Trolley Problem is and attempts to solve it. The lecture then critically examines Judith Thomson’s recent view that a moral distinction between killing and letting die, and between what a conductor of the trolley or a mere bystander may do to save people from the trolley, eliminates what she now thinks of as the Trolley Problem. The last part considers a different argument for the conclusion that Thomson now favors, but ultimately attempts to resurrect the Trolley Problem, suggesting that it is not who turns the trolley that makes the turning permissible.
Victor Tadros
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199554423
- eISBN:
- 9780191731341
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199554423.003.0006
- Subject:
- Law, Criminal Law and Criminology, Philosophy of Law
One central objection to general deterrence as a justification of punishment is that it is wrong to harm offenders as a means to the greater good. This requires us to evaluate the principle that it ...
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One central objection to general deterrence as a justification of punishment is that it is wrong to harm offenders as a means to the greater good. This requires us to evaluate the principle that it is wrong to harm people as a means and to explore its limits. This chapter defends the means principle as a general moral principle. It is argued that the means principle provides the only plausible account of some deeply held convictions about the restrictions that there are on harming people. Whilst it is difficult to find a very clear independent argument for the principle, we can find some grounds to defend it. Endorsing the means principle is essential to maintaining a certain kind of moral status. Were the means principle not a valid principle we would all in principle be available for use as tools to the good of others. As autonomous agents we ought not to be available for use in that way. It is also suggested that there are exceptions to the principle grounded in the enforceable duties that people have.Less
One central objection to general deterrence as a justification of punishment is that it is wrong to harm offenders as a means to the greater good. This requires us to evaluate the principle that it is wrong to harm people as a means and to explore its limits. This chapter defends the means principle as a general moral principle. It is argued that the means principle provides the only plausible account of some deeply held convictions about the restrictions that there are on harming people. Whilst it is difficult to find a very clear independent argument for the principle, we can find some grounds to defend it. Endorsing the means principle is essential to maintaining a certain kind of moral status. Were the means principle not a valid principle we would all in principle be available for use as tools to the good of others. As autonomous agents we ought not to be available for use in that way. It is also suggested that there are exceptions to the principle grounded in the enforceable duties that people have.
F. M. Kamm
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195189698
- eISBN:
- 9780199851096
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195189698.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
The author of this book is an ethical theorist working in philosophy today. She is known for her brand of analysis, largely in defense of a nonconsequentialist perspective—the view that some actions ...
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The author of this book is an ethical theorist working in philosophy today. She is known for her brand of analysis, largely in defense of a nonconsequentialist perspective—the view that some actions are right or wrong by virtue of something other than their consequences. This book questions the moral importance of some nonconsequentialist distinctions and then introduces and argues for the moral importance of other distinctions. The first section provides a general introduction to nonconsequentialist ethical theory followed by more detailed discussion of distinctions relevant to instrumental rationality and to the famous “Trolley Problem”; the second section deals with the notions of moral status and rights; the third section takes up the notions of responsibility and complicity, and discusses new issues in nonconsequentialist theory including the “problem of distance.” Finally, adding to the first section's discussions of the views of Warren Quinn and Peter Unger, the fourth section analyzes the views of others in the nonconsequentialist and consequentialist camps such as Peter Singer, Daniel Kahneman, Bernard Gert, and Thomas Scanlon.Less
The author of this book is an ethical theorist working in philosophy today. She is known for her brand of analysis, largely in defense of a nonconsequentialist perspective—the view that some actions are right or wrong by virtue of something other than their consequences. This book questions the moral importance of some nonconsequentialist distinctions and then introduces and argues for the moral importance of other distinctions. The first section provides a general introduction to nonconsequentialist ethical theory followed by more detailed discussion of distinctions relevant to instrumental rationality and to the famous “Trolley Problem”; the second section deals with the notions of moral status and rights; the third section takes up the notions of responsibility and complicity, and discusses new issues in nonconsequentialist theory including the “problem of distance.” Finally, adding to the first section's discussions of the views of Warren Quinn and Peter Unger, the fourth section analyzes the views of others in the nonconsequentialist and consequentialist camps such as Peter Singer, Daniel Kahneman, Bernard Gert, and Thomas Scanlon.
F. M. Kamm
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- October 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780190905033
- eISBN:
- 9780190905071
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190905033.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This chapter begins with a brief overview of what are known as standard Trolley Problem Cases. Next, it points out that many cases that are presented as Trolley Problem Cases in the AI ethics ...
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This chapter begins with a brief overview of what are known as standard Trolley Problem Cases. Next, it points out that many cases that are presented as Trolley Problem Cases in the AI ethics literature in fact raise moral issues distinctive from the issues raised by standard Trolley Problem Cases. This chapter then critically examines some discussions that seek to apply the Trolley Problem to choices involved in self-driving cars, the use of e-cigarettes, and mammography. The final section considers conceptual and moral issues involved in the production and use of self-driving cars, such as the role and responsibility of those who program such cars, the liability of pedestrians and drivers to be harmed by such cars, and whether voluntary passengers of self-driving cars are even more liable to be harmed than pedestrians.Less
This chapter begins with a brief overview of what are known as standard Trolley Problem Cases. Next, it points out that many cases that are presented as Trolley Problem Cases in the AI ethics literature in fact raise moral issues distinctive from the issues raised by standard Trolley Problem Cases. This chapter then critically examines some discussions that seek to apply the Trolley Problem to choices involved in self-driving cars, the use of e-cigarettes, and mammography. The final section considers conceptual and moral issues involved in the production and use of self-driving cars, such as the role and responsibility of those who program such cars, the liability of pedestrians and drivers to be harmed by such cars, and whether voluntary passengers of self-driving cars are even more liable to be harmed than pedestrians.
Walter Glannon
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199734092
- eISBN:
- 9780199894475
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199734092.003.0013
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This chapter examines claims by some cognitive psychologists conducting functional neuroimaging experiments about the neural basis of moral intuitions. It questions the idea that there are distinct ...
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This chapter examines claims by some cognitive psychologists conducting functional neuroimaging experiments about the neural basis of moral intuitions. It questions the idea that there are distinct cognitive and emotional subsystems in the brain driving utilitarian and deontological judgments. The chapter appeals to neuroscientific research showing that cognition and emotion are interacting processes mediated by overlapping neural systems distributed throughout the brain, Still, the reasons we adduce to justify actions depend not only on overlapping brain systems but also on social and cultural factors external to the brain.Less
This chapter examines claims by some cognitive psychologists conducting functional neuroimaging experiments about the neural basis of moral intuitions. It questions the idea that there are distinct cognitive and emotional subsystems in the brain driving utilitarian and deontological judgments. The chapter appeals to neuroscientific research showing that cognition and emotion are interacting processes mediated by overlapping neural systems distributed throughout the brain, Still, the reasons we adduce to justify actions depend not only on overlapping brain systems but also on social and cultural factors external to the brain.
EYAL ZAMIR and BARAK MEDINA
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195372168
- eISBN:
- 9780199776078
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195372168.003.02
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law
This chapter discusses moderate (or threshold) deontology, its critique, and possible responses. Deontological theories prioritize values such as autonomy, human dignity, and keeping one's promises ...
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This chapter discusses moderate (or threshold) deontology, its critique, and possible responses. Deontological theories prioritize values such as autonomy, human dignity, and keeping one's promises over the promotion of good outcomes. In prohibiting the infliction of harm on other people, they resort to distinctions such as that between actively doing harm and merely allowing it, and between intending to do harm and merely foreseeing it. Moderate deontology holds that constraints (and options) have thresholds. A constraint may be overridden for the sake of furthering good outcomes or avoiding bad ones if enough good (or bad) is at stake; and an option not to promote the good may be overridden for the sake of attaining enough good or avoiding enough bad. The chapter analyzes the main critiques leveled against deontology in general and moderate deontology in particular. It concludes that threshold constraints (and options) are an indispensable part of any acceptable factoral moral theory, but that threshold deontology suffers from a lack of methodological rigor and precision.Less
This chapter discusses moderate (or threshold) deontology, its critique, and possible responses. Deontological theories prioritize values such as autonomy, human dignity, and keeping one's promises over the promotion of good outcomes. In prohibiting the infliction of harm on other people, they resort to distinctions such as that between actively doing harm and merely allowing it, and between intending to do harm and merely foreseeing it. Moderate deontology holds that constraints (and options) have thresholds. A constraint may be overridden for the sake of furthering good outcomes or avoiding bad ones if enough good (or bad) is at stake; and an option not to promote the good may be overridden for the sake of attaining enough good or avoiding enough bad. The chapter analyzes the main critiques leveled against deontology in general and moderate deontology in particular. It concludes that threshold constraints (and options) are an indispensable part of any acceptable factoral moral theory, but that threshold deontology suffers from a lack of methodological rigor and precision.
Judith Jarvis Thomson
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- December 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780190247157
- eISBN:
- 9780190247188
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190247157.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
In her article “Turning the Trolley,” the author of this comment argued that the bystander may not turn the trolley onto one to save five. Lecture I argued that this view is mistaken. This comment ...
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In her article “Turning the Trolley,” the author of this comment argued that the bystander may not turn the trolley onto one to save five. Lecture I argued that this view is mistaken. This comment contends that Lecture I’s arguments do not succeed. In this response to the second Tanner Lecture, the text then argues that the Lecture II’s reasoning depends on an unacceptable view of moral theorizing. In an addendum, this comment defends the claim that if you think the bystander may turn the trolley onto one to save five when the two tracks are not connected, then good sense requires you to think that he may do so when the two tracks are connected.Less
In her article “Turning the Trolley,” the author of this comment argued that the bystander may not turn the trolley onto one to save five. Lecture I argued that this view is mistaken. This comment contends that Lecture I’s arguments do not succeed. In this response to the second Tanner Lecture, the text then argues that the Lecture II’s reasoning depends on an unacceptable view of moral theorizing. In an addendum, this comment defends the claim that if you think the bystander may turn the trolley onto one to save five when the two tracks are not connected, then good sense requires you to think that he may do so when the two tracks are connected.
Pauline Kleingeld
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- November 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780198867944
- eISBN:
- 9780191904578
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198867944.003.0010
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This chapter proposes a solution to the Trolley Problem in terms of the Kantian prohibition on using a person ‘merely as a means.’ A solution of this type seems impossible due to the difficulties it ...
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This chapter proposes a solution to the Trolley Problem in terms of the Kantian prohibition on using a person ‘merely as a means.’ A solution of this type seems impossible due to the difficulties it is widely thought to encounter in the scenario known as the Loop case. The chapter offers a conception of ‘using merely as a means’ that explains the morally relevant difference between the classic Bystander and Footbridge cases. It then shows, contrary to the standard view, that a bystander who diverts the trolley in the Loop case need not be using someone ‘merely as a means’ in doing so. This makes it possible to show why the Loop scenario does not undermine the explanation of the salient moral difference between the Bystander and Footbridge cases.Less
This chapter proposes a solution to the Trolley Problem in terms of the Kantian prohibition on using a person ‘merely as a means.’ A solution of this type seems impossible due to the difficulties it is widely thought to encounter in the scenario known as the Loop case. The chapter offers a conception of ‘using merely as a means’ that explains the morally relevant difference between the classic Bystander and Footbridge cases. It then shows, contrary to the standard view, that a bystander who diverts the trolley in the Loop case need not be using someone ‘merely as a means’ in doing so. This makes it possible to show why the Loop scenario does not undermine the explanation of the salient moral difference between the Bystander and Footbridge cases.
Barbara H. Fried
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- July 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780198847878
- eISBN:
- 9780191882487
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198847878.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
The trolley problem and cognate hypotheticals have played an outsized role in nonconsequentialist thought over the past fifty years. Taking Parfit’s On What Matters as a jumping-off point, the ...
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The trolley problem and cognate hypotheticals have played an outsized role in nonconsequentialist thought over the past fifty years. Taking Parfit’s On What Matters as a jumping-off point, the chapter argues that the features common to trolley problems—focusing only on determinate consequences, ignoring consequences to off-stage actors, reliance on secondary features unrelated to the tragic choices themselves, and treating the epistemic viewpoint of actors as an exogenous, morally neutral fact—suppress the fact that most of the choices we face are tragic, in the sense that they force a tradeoff between the fundamental interests of different people.Less
The trolley problem and cognate hypotheticals have played an outsized role in nonconsequentialist thought over the past fifty years. Taking Parfit’s On What Matters as a jumping-off point, the chapter argues that the features common to trolley problems—focusing only on determinate consequences, ignoring consequences to off-stage actors, reliance on secondary features unrelated to the tragic choices themselves, and treating the epistemic viewpoint of actors as an exogenous, morally neutral fact—suppress the fact that most of the choices we face are tragic, in the sense that they force a tradeoff between the fundamental interests of different people.
F.M. Kamm
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199897520
- eISBN:
- 9780199950249
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199897520.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This book comprises chapters that discuss aspects of war and other conflicts in the light of both nonconsequentialist ethical theory and the views of such theorists as Barbara Herman, Jeff McMahan, ...
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This book comprises chapters that discuss aspects of war and other conflicts in the light of both nonconsequentialist ethical theory and the views of such theorists as Barbara Herman, Jeff McMahan, Avishai Margalit, and Michael Walzer. The first chapter deals with the relation between states of affairs whose termination justifies war and states of affairs that once achieved should put an end to war. The next few chapters deal with conduct in war. They first consider the implications of general moral principles (including the Doctrine of Double Effect and Principle of Permissible Harm) for the permissibility of harm to combatants and noncombatants, and then whether factors unique to war should alter what is permissible. In particular, if the context of war should affect the relative violability of different combatants and different noncombatants, if terror killing combatants and/or noncombatants should ever be permissible, and if there is liability to harm in virtue of belonging to a group. The fifth chapter examines how recent discussions by nonconsequentialists about redirection of threats (as in the famous Trolley Problem) may illuminate the moral status of collaboration that took place with Nazis during the Holocaust. What justice requires after conflict and how our ability to provide it affects the permissibility of starting war, is the question of the next topic. Truth and reconciliation commissions and retribution post-conflict are discussed, and whether harm to civilians stemming from such procedures (and how the harm arises) bear on the permissibility of instituting the procedures. The three concluding chapters deal with moral aspects of conflicts outside of standard war, including those involving the threat of terrorism, resistance to communal injustice (for example, in the case of the Taliban women), and the use of nuclear weapons for deterrence.Less
This book comprises chapters that discuss aspects of war and other conflicts in the light of both nonconsequentialist ethical theory and the views of such theorists as Barbara Herman, Jeff McMahan, Avishai Margalit, and Michael Walzer. The first chapter deals with the relation between states of affairs whose termination justifies war and states of affairs that once achieved should put an end to war. The next few chapters deal with conduct in war. They first consider the implications of general moral principles (including the Doctrine of Double Effect and Principle of Permissible Harm) for the permissibility of harm to combatants and noncombatants, and then whether factors unique to war should alter what is permissible. In particular, if the context of war should affect the relative violability of different combatants and different noncombatants, if terror killing combatants and/or noncombatants should ever be permissible, and if there is liability to harm in virtue of belonging to a group. The fifth chapter examines how recent discussions by nonconsequentialists about redirection of threats (as in the famous Trolley Problem) may illuminate the moral status of collaboration that took place with Nazis during the Holocaust. What justice requires after conflict and how our ability to provide it affects the permissibility of starting war, is the question of the next topic. Truth and reconciliation commissions and retribution post-conflict are discussed, and whether harm to civilians stemming from such procedures (and how the harm arises) bear on the permissibility of instituting the procedures. The three concluding chapters deal with moral aspects of conflicts outside of standard war, including those involving the threat of terrorism, resistance to communal injustice (for example, in the case of the Taliban women), and the use of nuclear weapons for deterrence.
F.M. Kamm
Eric Rakowski (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- December 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780190247157
- eISBN:
- 9780190247188
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190247157.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
Suppose you can stop a trolley from killing five people, but only by turning it onto a side track where it will kill one person. May you turn the trolley? What if the only way to rescue the five is ...
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Suppose you can stop a trolley from killing five people, but only by turning it onto a side track where it will kill one person. May you turn the trolley? What if the only way to rescue the five is to topple a bystander in front of the trolley so that his body stops it but he dies? May you use a device to stop the trolley that will kill a bystander as a side effect? The Trolley Problem challenges us to explain and justify our intuitive judgments about these and related cases. This book presents views on this moral conundrum. After providing a brief history of views of the problem is and attempts to solve it, it focuses on two prominent issues: Does who turns the trolley and how the harm is shifted affect the moral permissibility of acting? The answers lead to general proposals about when we may and may not harm some to help others. The book then presents comments on these proposals. There are then responses to each comment, and this provides a rich elaboration and defense of the original views.Less
Suppose you can stop a trolley from killing five people, but only by turning it onto a side track where it will kill one person. May you turn the trolley? What if the only way to rescue the five is to topple a bystander in front of the trolley so that his body stops it but he dies? May you use a device to stop the trolley that will kill a bystander as a side effect? The Trolley Problem challenges us to explain and justify our intuitive judgments about these and related cases. This book presents views on this moral conundrum. After providing a brief history of views of the problem is and attempts to solve it, it focuses on two prominent issues: Does who turns the trolley and how the harm is shifted affect the moral permissibility of acting? The answers lead to general proposals about when we may and may not harm some to help others. The book then presents comments on these proposals. There are then responses to each comment, and this provides a rich elaboration and defense of the original views.
Eric Rakowski
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- December 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780190247157
- eISBN:
- 9780190247188
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190247157.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
The trolley problem asks for moral justification. Is it morally permissible (as many people believe) for someone to divert a runaway trolley that would kill five people to where it will kill one ...
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The trolley problem asks for moral justification. Is it morally permissible (as many people believe) for someone to divert a runaway trolley that would kill five people to where it will kill one different person instead, though it is not permissible to push an innocent bystander in front of the trolley, killing him, if that is the only way to save the five? This book attempts to answer this question. There are also a number of comments on the book’s proposed solution, and the text includes replies to the comments.Less
The trolley problem asks for moral justification. Is it morally permissible (as many people believe) for someone to divert a runaway trolley that would kill five people to where it will kill one different person instead, though it is not permissible to push an innocent bystander in front of the trolley, killing him, if that is the only way to save the five? This book attempts to answer this question. There are also a number of comments on the book’s proposed solution, and the text includes replies to the comments.
Thomas Hurka
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- December 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780190247157
- eISBN:
- 9780190247188
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190247157.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This comment discusses the book's positive account of the trolley problem, given in the Principle of Permissible Harm. This principle says an act that causes both a greater good and a lesser evil is ...
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This comment discusses the book's positive account of the trolley problem, given in the Principle of Permissible Harm. This principle says an act that causes both a greater good and a lesser evil is impermissible if the evil results from a means to the good but can be permissible if the evil results from the good itself or from its noncausal flip side. This comment argues that this principle has counterintuitive implications—for example, that bombing an arms factory that kills nearby civilians is impermissible if the civilians are killed by flying pieces of bomb but permissible if they are killed by flying pieces of factory. It then argues that the principle lacks a persuasive philosophical rationale because it draws an arbitrary line in a sequence of means to an end and trades on an ambiguity in its understanding of “the greater good.”Less
This comment discusses the book's positive account of the trolley problem, given in the Principle of Permissible Harm. This principle says an act that causes both a greater good and a lesser evil is impermissible if the evil results from a means to the good but can be permissible if the evil results from the good itself or from its noncausal flip side. This comment argues that this principle has counterintuitive implications—for example, that bombing an arms factory that kills nearby civilians is impermissible if the civilians are killed by flying pieces of bomb but permissible if they are killed by flying pieces of factory. It then argues that the principle lacks a persuasive philosophical rationale because it draws an arbitrary line in a sequence of means to an end and trades on an ambiguity in its understanding of “the greater good.”
F. M. Kamm
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195189698
- eISBN:
- 9780199851096
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195189698.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This book is about nonconsequentialist ethical theory and some alternatives to it, either substantive or methodological. It explores nonconsequentialism and the Trolley Problem as well as particular ...
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This book is about nonconsequentialist ethical theory and some alternatives to it, either substantive or methodological. It explores nonconsequentialism and the Trolley Problem as well as particular aspects of nonconsequentialist theory pertaining to harming persons. It includes a discussion on prerogatives, constraints, inviolability, and the significance of status, along with a nonconsequentialist theory of aggregation and the distribution of scarce goods. It contrasts two subcategories of a method known as pairwise comparison—confrontation and substitution—by which conflicts might be resolved in a nonconsequentialist theory, and argues that substitution is permissible. The book also examines Peter Unger's views on the permissibility of harming innocent bystanders and the duty to harm ourselves in order to aid others, responsibility and collaboration, and new ways in which physical distance might bear on our duty to aid. Moreover, there is a section devoted to the views of others within the consequentialist and nonconsequentialist camps, including Peter Singer's ethical theory.Less
This book is about nonconsequentialist ethical theory and some alternatives to it, either substantive or methodological. It explores nonconsequentialism and the Trolley Problem as well as particular aspects of nonconsequentialist theory pertaining to harming persons. It includes a discussion on prerogatives, constraints, inviolability, and the significance of status, along with a nonconsequentialist theory of aggregation and the distribution of scarce goods. It contrasts two subcategories of a method known as pairwise comparison—confrontation and substitution—by which conflicts might be resolved in a nonconsequentialist theory, and argues that substitution is permissible. The book also examines Peter Unger's views on the permissibility of harming innocent bystanders and the duty to harm ourselves in order to aid others, responsibility and collaboration, and new ways in which physical distance might bear on our duty to aid. Moreover, there is a section devoted to the views of others within the consequentialist and nonconsequentialist camps, including Peter Singer's ethical theory.
Tim Button
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199672172
- eISBN:
- 9780191758393
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199672172.003.0017
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
The scenarios of Chapter 15 induce a state of aporia: a (metalevel) scepticism about our ability to answer Cartesian scepticism. This is similar to the state of aporia that can be induced by ...
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The scenarios of Chapter 15 induce a state of aporia: a (metalevel) scepticism about our ability to answer Cartesian scepticism. This is similar to the state of aporia that can be induced by considering trolley problems in ethics. A second ethical connection can be drawn, by considering ways in which brain-in-vat scenarios can leave their victims utterly lacking in ethical concepts. The moral is that our intuitions—metaphysical, semantic, epistemological, and ethical—carry us some distance in our response to scepticism, but they only carry us far. Since the reaction to Cartesian scepticism determines the location of a position on the realist spectrum—with external realism at one pole and internal realism at the other—there is very little to say about where to position oneself on that spectrum. This chapter concludes by criticising recent neo-Carnapian attacks on metaphysics, since neo-Carnapianism amounts to internal realism.Less
The scenarios of Chapter 15 induce a state of aporia: a (metalevel) scepticism about our ability to answer Cartesian scepticism. This is similar to the state of aporia that can be induced by considering trolley problems in ethics. A second ethical connection can be drawn, by considering ways in which brain-in-vat scenarios can leave their victims utterly lacking in ethical concepts. The moral is that our intuitions—metaphysical, semantic, epistemological, and ethical—carry us some distance in our response to scepticism, but they only carry us far. Since the reaction to Cartesian scepticism determines the location of a position on the realist spectrum—with external realism at one pole and internal realism at the other—there is very little to say about where to position oneself on that spectrum. This chapter concludes by criticising recent neo-Carnapian attacks on metaphysics, since neo-Carnapianism amounts to internal realism.