Main.TrolleyProblem History
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Deriving "ought" from "is"
- "It is the case that p" does not entail "It ought to be the case that p".
- Science tells us how things actually are, not how things ought to be.
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Psychological questions
Why do people have these (widespread) intuitions about these two situations?
- The connection question - Does the answer to the psychological question have any bearing at all on the moral question?
- No. Empirical facts have no implications about morality.
- Greene - Yes.
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Psychological and other issues
- What do people think in general? Are the intuitions widespread?
- Why do people think that way? What cognitive mechanisms underlie our moral judgments?
- The connection question - Do findings in psychology and neuroscience have any bearing on the moral question?
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The implications of "Neuroscientific moral psychology"
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- A utilitarian might disagree - You should in both cases.
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- A utilitarian might disagree - You should flip the switch and you should push the fat guy.
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The problem was first posed by Phillipa Foot (1967) "Abortion and the Doctrine of Double Effect". Discussed further and expanded by Judith Jarvis Thomson.
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- In the first case the death of the bystander is an unintended consequence, but in the second case the death is part of the plan.
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- One answer: In the first case the death of the bystander is an unintended consequence, but in the second case the death is part of the plan.
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Three questions
- The moral question - What should we do in these two situations?
- Standard answer - You may flip the switch in the bystander case, but you may not push the fat guy.
- A utilitarian might disagree - You should in both cases.
- Thomson (2008)'s new position - You should not in both cases. (on the basis of the bystander three options case)
- The psychological question - Why do people have these (widespread) intuitions about these two situations?
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The moral question
The moral question - What should we do in these two situations?
- Standard answer - You may flip the switch in the bystander case, but you may not push the fat guy. Why?
- In the first case the death of the bystander is an unintended consequence, but in the second case the death is part of the plan.
- A utilitarian might disagree - You should in both cases.
- Thomson (2008)'s new position - You should not in both cases. (on the basis of the bystander three options case)
Psychological questions
Why do people have these (widespread) intuitions about these two situations?
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- Use fMRI to check brain activity when dealing with the trolley problems.
- In the fat guy case,
- areas associated with emotions are more active - medial frontal gyrus, posterior cingulate gyrus, angular gyrus.
- areas associated with working memory less active - right middle frontal gyrus, bilateral parietal lobe.
- People who are willing to push the fat guy over took significantly longer to respond - they have to override their emotional response.
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The implications of "Neuroscientific moral psychology"
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- [required] http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~jgreene/
- [required] A. Appiah (2008). Experiments in Ethics. Harvard University Press. See the chapter "The case against intuition". [1-day reserve]
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Greene's two process theory
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Greene's dual-process theory
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- Moral judgment is a product of two systems:
- an impersonal / rational / utilitarian system, associated with the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain associated with "cognitive control" and reasoning
- a personal / emotional system,
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- Moral judgment is a product of two systems: a more rational and impersonal abstract reasoning system applied to morality, and an emotional system that is less rational.
@personal moral dilemmas, as compared with impersonal and non-moral dilemmas, produced increased activity in areas associated with social/emotional processing: medial frontal gyrus, posterior cingulate gyrus, and bilateral STS (originally labeled ‘angular gyrus’). By contrast, impersonal and non-moral dilemmas as compared with personal dilemmas produced increased activity in areas associated with working memory: dorsolateral prefrontal and parietal areas. They found comparatively little difference between the impersonal-moral and non-moral conditions, suggesting that impersonal moral judgment has less in common with personal moral judgment than with certain kinds of non-moral practical judgment.
@
- The two systems can come into conflict, as in the crying baby case.
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Greene's two process theory
- Moral judgment is a product of two systems:
- an impersonal / rational / utilitarian system, associated with the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain associated with "cognitive control" and reasoning
- a personal / emotional system,
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- The bystander case - http://www.chrishorner.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/2007-08-13-202.png
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- The bystander (two options) case - http://www.chrishorner.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/2007-08-13-202.png
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- Thomson (2008)'s new position - You should not in both cases.
to:
- Thomson (2008)'s new position - You should not in both cases. (on the basis of the bystander three options case)
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- Thomson, J.J. 2008. Turning the trolley. Philosophy and Public Affairs 36: 359–74.
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- Standard answers - You may flip the switch in the bystander case, but you may not push the fat guy.
to:
- Standard answer - You may flip the switch in the bystander case, but you may not push the fat guy.
- A utilitarian might disagree - You should in both cases.
- Thomson (2008)'s new position - You should not in both cases.
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- http://www.chrishorner.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/2007-08-13-202.png
- http://www.chrishorner.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/2007-08-16-991.jpg
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- The bystander case - http://www.chrishorner.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/2007-08-13-202.png
- The fat guy case - http://www.chrishorner.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/2007-08-16-991.jpg
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- Standard answers - You may flip the switch in the bystander case, but you may not push the fat guy.
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Deriving "ought" from "is"
- "It is the case that p" does not entail "It ought to be the case that p".
- Science tells us how things actually are, not how things ought to be.
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- http://www.chrishorner.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/2007-08-16-991.jpg
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- http://www.chrishorner.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/2007-08-16-991.jpg
Three questions
- The moral question - What should we do in these two situations?
- The psychological question - Why do people have these (widespread) intuitions about these two situations?
- The connection question - Does the answer to the psychological question have any bearing at all on the moral question?
- No. Empirical facts have no implications about morality.
- Greene - Yes.
The implications of "Neuroscientific moral psychology"
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Comics - http://www.chrishorner.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/2007-08-13-202.png http://www.chrishorner.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/2007-08-16-991.jpg
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Comics
- http://www.chrishorner.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/2007-08-13-202.png
- http://www.chrishorner.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/2007-08-16-991.jpg
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In a nutshell
Comics - http://www.chrishorner.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/2007-08-13-202.png http://www.chrishorner.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/2007-08-16-991.jpg
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- [required] A. Appiah (2008). Experiments in Ethics. Harvard University Press. See the chapter "The case against intuition".
to:
- [required] A. Appiah (2008). Experiments in Ethics. Harvard University Press. See the chapter "The case against intuition". [1-day reserve]
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- http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~jgreene/
- A. Appiah (2008). Experiments in Ethics. Harvard University Press. See the chapter "The case against intuition".
to:
- [required] http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~jgreene/
- [required] A. Appiah (2008). Experiments in Ethics. Harvard University Press. See the chapter "The case against intuition".
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- A. Appiah (2008). Experiments in Ethics. Harvard University Press. See the chapter "The case against intuition".
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The Trolley Problem
Readings
- http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~jgreene/
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