Grames Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 Consider the following case: On Twin Earth, a brain in a vat is at the wheel of a runaway trolley. There are only two options that the brain can take: the right side of the fork in the track or the left side of the fork. There is no way in sight of derailing or stopping the trolley and the brain is aware of this, for the brain knows trolleys. The brain is causally hooked up to the trolley such that the brain can determine the course which the trolley will take. On the right side of the track there is a single railroad worker, Jones,who will definitely be killed if the brain steers the trolley to the right. If the railman on the right lives, he will go on to kill five men for the sake of killing them, but in doing so will inadvertently save the lives of thirty orphans (one of the five men he will kill is planning to destroy a bridge that the orphan's bus will be crossing later that night). One of the orphans that will be killed would have grown up to become a tyrant who would make good utilitarian men do bad things. Another of the orphans would grow up to become G.E.M. Anscombe, while a third would invent the pop-top can. If the brain in the vat chooses the left side of the track, the trolley will definitely hit and kill a railman on the left side of the track, "Leftie" and will hit and destroy ten beating hearts on the track that could (and would) have been transplanted into ten patients in the local hospital that will die without donor hearts. These are the only hearts available, and the brain is aware of this, for the brain knows hearts. If the railman on the left side of the track lives, he too will kill five men, in fact the same five that the railman on the right would kill. However, "Leftie" will kill the five as an unintended consequence of saving ten men: he will inadvertently kill the five men rushing the ten hearts to the local hospital for transplantation. A further result of "Leftie's" act would be that the busload of orphans will be spared. Among the five men killed by "Leftie" are both the man responsible for putting the brain at the controls of the trolley, and the author of this example. If the ten hearts and "Leftie" are killed by the trolley, the ten prospective heart-transplant patients will die and their kidneys will be used to save the lives of twenty kidney-transplant patients, one of whom will grow up to cure cancer, and one of whom will grow up to be Hitler. There are other kidneys and dialysis machines available, however the brain does not know kidneys, and this is not a factor. Assume that the brain's choice, whatever it turns out to be, will serve as an example to other brains-in-vats and so the effects of his decision will be amplified. Also assume that if the brain chooses the right side of the fork, an unjust war free of war crimes will ensue, while if the brain chooses the left fork, a just war fraught with war crimes will result. Furthermore, there is an intermittently active Cartesian demon deceiving the brain in such a manner that the brain is never sure if it is being deceived. QUESTION: What should the brain do? [ALTERNATIVE EXAMPLE: Same as above, except the brain has had a commisurotomy, and the left half of the brain is a consequentialist and the right side is an absolutist.] Copyright, 1988 by the American Philosophical Association, but I got it from this website, copyright and all. The linked page also tries to unpack all the issues referenced in the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanLane Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 (edited) 1. Twin Earth doesn't matter to me ethically. I have no concern. 2. The brain is responsible for one death either way. It might as well flip a coin. Edit: I assume it controls the trolley during normal operation. Is the malfunction the fault of the brain? If not, then it isn't even responsible for one death. Edited December 15, 2009 by DanLane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philosopher Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 That sounds like a parody of lifeboat scenarios, I can't believe it's real. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aequalsa Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 QUESTION: What should the brain do? Let his manager make the decision so that he can avoid taking responsibility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eficazpensador Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 QUESTION: What should the brain do? bahahaha. Greatest thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyronus Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 This thread has obtained my stamp of approval. I love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RationalBiker Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 QUESTION: What should the brain do? Petition for a bigger vat to hang out in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dream_weaver Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 QUESTION: What should the brain do? Consult the crystal ball which has predicted the alternative outcomes, to see what decision the brain had selected. Then, A.) Take the prediction of the crystal ball to validate the efficacy of the crystal ball, B.) Select the alternative to demonstrate that crystal balls are still indeed wishful thinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJJJ Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 Imagine if courses at veterinary school centered around how pregnant three-legged horses raised in southern Angola handle zero-gravity while ignoring teaching about the horse's anatomy and how to cure it's common diseases. That's pretty much what academic philosophy is...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zip Posted December 16, 2009 Report Share Posted December 16, 2009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capitalism Forever Posted December 16, 2009 Report Share Posted December 16, 2009 QUESTION: What should the brain do? ANSWER: Put down that bottle, NOW! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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