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A question of morality
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Basically, imagine you're walking by the tracks and for whatever reason, there's a group of fifteen people stuck on a track with no way of getting out of the way of an incoming train. There's a switch you can hit that will change the tracks the train will go down but the track it will go down will hit the one person stranded on that track. Do you pull the switch and save fifteen/murder one? Or do you leave things as they are? And does that change if that one person is someone close to you like a family member or a friend or someone you love?
Oh, and for people who thought of this, you can't just pull the switch halfway so the tain gets derailed and both tracks are safe (and you'd be injuring the people in the train anyway).
Re: A question of morality
stirring
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If you come across an older post of mine, sowwy
Re: A question of morality
TLDR Master
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For example, for one who believes strictly in Utilitarianism, he will decide that the net utility gained from saving 15 lives > 1, the choice would be easy. For a Nihilist, who doesn’t believe moral value exists, he would likely flip a coin to decide (choose arbitrarily), act on a whim or do nothing at all.
In the end, these questions are a bit silly, most of us do not think too hard about our moral frameworks; we normally do what comes naturally to us, whether it is based on belief, impulse, conviction or religious grounds. I’d say that none of us will ever hold a position of public office where we would actually have to make real, lasting ethical choices. This better not be one of those “get the internet to do my homework for me” type of posts …
Re: A question of morality
This is my Path, my Dream, my Choice
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Re: A question of morality
Prufursurnkfa fushcatchurrr
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There's a lifeboat next to your ship full of people that have a contagious and deadly illness. Do you save them?
On this ship, the USS Moral Dilemma adrift in the Hypothetical Ocean, you have 50 passengers. However, food supplies run low, and if they're shared none of you will survive. Who do you give the rations to?
Someone has hidden a bomb on your ship. It will go off and kill some people, very likely. Do you torture the person who planted it to find it and save lives?
yeah this is bullshit
Re: A question of morality
PCHOOO
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Who are you that you have this magical switch of deus ex machina?
Do trains really not like have brakes at all?
What on earth could possibly prevent these people from getting of the track, the idiots?
What the fuck is wrong with that inventor of medicine?
Logical issue contained in the other questions Tinker proposed.
Until I know the precise details answering these questions, the life stories, fondest dreams, and greatest flaws of all 16 people on the tracks, myself, and the people on the train, these questions are unanswerable!
No but seriously I think such questions are pretty silly!
Re: A question of morality
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Re: A question of morality
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Re: A question of morality
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Re: A question of morality
Captain Ascot and the Survey Corps!
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I answer moral questions with logic :3
Re: A question of morality
The Real Human Being
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I would be killed but there would be the chance that he saw me and stopped.
Re: A question of morality
GANTALITY!
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DoMaya wrote:
I'd jump in the trains way, trying to inform him to stop.
I would be killed but there would be the chance that he saw me and stopped.
I would be killed but there would be the chance that he saw me and stopped.
I vote for DoMaya to do this every time.
Though that said, these types of questions are pointless generally people act at the moment and not think. Philosophy can be a pain in the ass, specially when you realize that a lot of the original questions came from some bearded twit who sat about all day on his own thinking, not engaging in life or the world at all, with his thumb up his ass.
"So apparently P/I fan + Insecurity + airheadedness + strange kinks + bad grasp of reality + over eagerness = bad user........." D= /D\
Re: A question of morality
You've been hit by, a smooth prosecutor
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Long answer to point out it's contradictions:
If 16 idiots decide to stand on the track and they get hit it's their fault. the're tresspassing anyway.
Unless everybody's feet have been pinned in between one of the points of the switch itself because they decided to play arround on it. (but this would only happen if the switch is a power one controlled by a dispatcher at a computer somewhere and if someone's foot was caught, the switch wouldn't lock in place, and the dispatcher would get a "switch out of correspondence" alarm, and he'd alert the train to stop). Or unless all of them are tied to the track. There's no way they couldn't get off. Even if it was 2 tracks on a high bridge.
Now. As for the train stopping. It depends on the speed. Suffice it to say unless the train is only doing 20mph or less throwing yourself in front of it to get the engineer to stop won't work. You'll become ground beef, and the others will too (there is a way to signal the engineer to stop for something, but i'm not gonna mention it). There's tons of examples of train stopping distances and i'll post a few here.
Edit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KKiitd1bBw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj7Zd5Favzg (note how long it takes for it to stop after it hits the semi)
And there's a chance if the engineer applies the emergency brakes, it could derail the train. When the airbrakes are applied, the brake air reduction starts at the engine, and works it's way back to the rear of the train. During the time the front cars are applying their brakes, the rear cars haven't yet, and start bumping into the others. If it happens on a curve or hill the force could shove the other cars off the track.
And also. Railroads have emergency contact numbers posted at all railroad crossings in case someone or something is stuck on the tracks.
And how are you gonna throw the switch? Will you just happen to have a key for the switch lock? Or have a pair of bolt cutters (switch locks would require the type of bolt cutters used to cut rebar)?
And no i didn't miss the point. I'm exposing the flaws in it.
Last edited by Johnny Rotan on Fri Aug 07, 2009 1:56 am, edited 2 times in total.
Re: A question of morality
seems interesting!
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Re: A question of morality
TLDR Master
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TLDR: Going Hurr Durr X would never happen, I would do Y to prevent it etc. is neither the point of the question nor does it answer anything.
Stuff like this does happen in the real world; it’s just that most of us will never be in the position to experience it in the scale where human lives are at stake, so we don’t really care. Examples: Strategic Bombing, Hiroshima/Nagasaki, various hostage situations.
Yes lol I know, wikipedia, it may be a tad unreliable but its still a good place to get the basic outline of stuff, just don’t ever use it as a source for a paper …
SerialVER wrote:
Philosophy can be a pain in the ass, specially when you realize that a lot of the original questions came from some bearded twit who sat about all day on his own thinking, not engaging in life or the world at all, with his thumb up his ass.
Hey I resent that, them bearded twits were for the most part responsible for creating nearly all the political, economic and ideological frameworks we have today. What exactly is engaging in life and the world anyway? Well, then again, the world is a pretty fucked up place *shakes fist in the air* curse you bearded old men!
Re: A question of morality
spr fckn srs peepz
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There is no right answer to that question because you still sacrifice people.
http://vanderlund.blogspot.com - Because the only fantasy worlds I like are those I write myself.
Re: A question of morality
The Real Human Being
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SerialVER wrote:
DoMaya wrote:
I'd jump in the trains way, trying to inform him to stop.
I would be killed but there would be the chance that he saw me and stopped.
I would be killed but there would be the chance that he saw me and stopped.
I vote for DoMaya to do this every time.
Though that said, these types of questions are pointless generally people act at the moment and not think. Philosophy can be a pain in the ass, specially when you realize that a lot of the original questions came from some bearded twit who sat about all day on his own thinking, not engaging in life or the world at all, with his thumb up his ass.
I think I'll throw you in the way instead.
Re: A question of morality
You've been hit by, a smooth prosecutor
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Wrestler Hatman wrote:
Let's listen to Rawls here :
There is no right answer to that question because you still sacrifice people.
There is no right answer to that question because you still sacrifice people.
IOW: Dammed if you do, dammed if you don't. In that case you pick the one that you can live with the most and stick with it.
Re: A question of morality
I am known as Drammy, IAmNotShinta...
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What
Re: A question of morality
Gettin' Old!
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OuenTobaye wrote:
It's a question of morality, not a choose-your-own-adventure. All it's trying to do is ask 'would you save 15 people and kill one you like', it doesn't matter how fast trains go and how they stop. >_>
I'm usually a fan of these things, ideally I'd blow up the train of evil.
But I'd probably be selfish and save the person I cared about.
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Re: A question of morality
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If your retarded enough to stand in the middle of a train track while a train is approaching then you deserve to die.
Nothing.
Last edited by antonis on Sat Aug 15, 2009 7:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: A question of morality
Moo.
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Ooh, 600th post.
Moo.
Re: A question of morality
Get Funky, +10 Pulchritude
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if you do want to save the people, my answer is that i wouldn't be in that situation in the first place.
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