I share El’s despair. Look at the forest, folks. The point is that you have to recognize that harm aggregates (and not to an asymptote) or you are willing to do terrible things. The idea of torture is introduced precisely to make it hard to see. But it is important, particularly in light of how easily our brains fail to scale harm and benefit. Geez, I don’t even have to look at the research El cites—the comments are enough.
Stop saying the specks are “zero harm.” This is a thought experiment and they are defined as positive harm.
Stop saying that torture is different. This is a thought experiment and torture is defined to be absolutely terrible, but finite, harm.
Stop saying that torture is infinite harm. That’s just silly.
Stop proving the point over and over in the comments!
Not all harms aggregate, and in particular lots of nano-pains experienced by lots of sufferers aren’t ontologically equivalent to a single agony experienced by a single subject. Utilitarianism isn’t an objective fact about how the world works. There’s an element of make-believe in treating all harms as aggregating. You can treat things that way if your intuitions tell you to, but the world doesn’t force you to.
I share El’s despair. Look at the forest, folks. The point is that you have to recognize that harm aggregates (and not to an asymptote) or you are willing to do terrible things. The idea of torture is introduced precisely to make it hard to see. But it is important, particularly in light of how easily our brains fail to scale harm and benefit. Geez, I don’t even have to look at the research El cites—the comments are enough.
Stop saying the specks are “zero harm.” This is a thought experiment and they are defined as positive harm.
Stop saying that torture is different. This is a thought experiment and torture is defined to be absolutely terrible, but finite, harm.
Stop saying that torture is infinite harm. That’s just silly.
Stop proving the point over and over in the comments!
/rant/
Not all harms aggregate, and in particular lots of nano-pains experienced by lots of sufferers aren’t ontologically equivalent to a single agony experienced by a single subject. Utilitarianism isn’t an objective fact about how the world works. There’s an element of make-believe in treating all harms as aggregating. You can treat things that way if your intuitions tell you to, but the world doesn’t force you to.