That doesn’t change the fact that there is no reason to involve torture in this thought experiment. (or most of the thought experiments we put it in)
I think as a general rule, we should try to frame problems into positive utility as opposed to negative utility, unless we have a reason not to.
One reason for this is that people feel guilt for participating in a thought experiment where they have to choose between two bad things, and they do not feel the same guilt for choosing between two good things. Another is that people might have a feeling like they have a moral obligation to avoid certain bad scenarios no matter what, and this might interfere with their ability to compare them to other things rationally. I do not think that people often have the same feeling of moral obligation to irrationally always seek a certain good scenario.
That doesn’t change the fact that there is no reason to involve torture in this thought experiment. (or most of the thought experiments we put it in)
I think as a general rule, we should try to frame problems into positive utility as opposed to negative utility, unless we have a reason not to.
One reason for this is that people feel guilt for participating in a thought experiment where they have to choose between two bad things, and they do not feel the same guilt for choosing between two good things. Another is that people might have a feeling like they have a moral obligation to avoid certain bad scenarios no matter what, and this might interfere with their ability to compare them to other things rationally. I do not think that people often have the same feeling of moral obligation to irrationally always seek a certain good scenario.