As posed, I’m not sure what I would do, or whether pressing the button is moral.
“You are offered a magical box. If you press the button on the box, one person somewhere in the world will die..”
Well I don’t believe in real magic ( I do believe in magicians who do clever tricks ), so the question is immediately hypothetical.
But leaving that aside, there is the question of the mechanism by which the person dies. If it was simply that aid was diverted from that person to another person, then I would probably have no problem pressing the button ( I might question whether I deserve the cash for myself and refuse it ).
If instead the person is to be executed, then I would have a problem.
If the person is to die by means of magic, well, I don’t believe the person who is telling me this, so it gets complicated.
If it was simply that aid was diverted from that person to another person, then I would probably have no problem pressing the button
Good point. If it were an expected life lost vs. 4 expected lives saved, by taking $x from SCI and giving 4*$x to AMF, nobody would have a problem pressing the button. So it might come down to intuitions about risk tolerance.
As posed, I’m not sure what I would do, or whether pressing the button is moral.
“You are offered a magical box. If you press the button on the box, one person somewhere in the world will die..”
Well I don’t believe in real magic ( I do believe in magicians who do clever tricks ), so the question is immediately hypothetical.
But leaving that aside, there is the question of the mechanism by which the person dies. If it was simply that aid was diverted from that person to another person, then I would probably have no problem pressing the button ( I might question whether I deserve the cash for myself and refuse it ).
If instead the person is to be executed, then I would have a problem.
If the person is to die by means of magic, well, I don’t believe the person who is telling me this, so it gets complicated.
Good point. If it were an expected life lost vs. 4 expected lives saved, by taking $x from SCI and giving 4*$x to AMF, nobody would have a problem pressing the button. So it might come down to intuitions about risk tolerance.