I don’t find this reservation very compelling. Just say you’re wearing a nice suit as well as expensive shoes, and you’re almost there.
I don’t think I’ve ever worn anywhere near $2300′s worth of clothes at the same time. In fact, I’m not even sure I’ve ever worn $2300′s worth of anything at all (not counting money in the debit card in my wallet) in the past few years—my netbook cost about €300 when I bought it several years ago.
Fair enough, I haven’t either and I definitely didn’t choose the best example there, but my reply to JonahSinick downthread addresses this:
There are many other possible examples. Perhaps instead I am wearing a watch that my mother gave to me before she died and it has great sentimental value, or perhaps I have some document, hidden away in an inner pocket, that would be expensive to replace or whose destruction risks getting me fired. The exact details don’t seem that important. I don’t happen to have either of these items, any more than I have shoes worth over $20, but it is not too hard to imagine.
Yes, I could imagine some weird situation where I can dive into a pond but only by destroying $2300′s worth of value in the process—but such a situation would be so far removed from the situations I usually deal with in my daily life that I’m not at all confident about whether I would feel obligated to save the child.
(Yes, I know in principle I could say this about any thought experiment, but...)
I don’t think I’ve ever worn anywhere near $2300′s worth of clothes at the same time. In fact, I’m not even sure I’ve ever worn $2300′s worth of anything at all (not counting money in the debit card in my wallet) in the past few years—my netbook cost about €300 when I bought it several years ago.
Fair enough, I haven’t either and I definitely didn’t choose the best example there, but my reply to JonahSinick downthread addresses this:
Yes, I could imagine some weird situation where I can dive into a pond but only by destroying $2300′s worth of value in the process—but such a situation would be so far removed from the situations I usually deal with in my daily life that I’m not at all confident about whether I would feel obligated to save the child.
(Yes, I know in principle I could say this about any thought experiment, but...)