Discussion: Ethical Thought Experiments
Details
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Thought experiments are a way to test and query your intuitive thinking. They are the bread and butter of philosophy classes and Socratic dialogues.
The classic example of ethical thought experiments is The Trolley Problem and it goes like this: You see a train speeding down the track and it's about to hit five people. But you can pull a lever to switch the train to another track where it will only kill one person. Do you pull the lever so that only one person will die?
Many people intuitively answer yes; one death is a better outcome than five deaths. Now we try another version of this thought experiment. The train is speeding down the track and it will kill five people, but you are standing on a walkway above the track with a large, heavy person beside you. You could push that person off the bridge so that they fall on the track, stop the train and save the other five people. Do you push person off the bridge?
Here many people say no. But then why is our reasoning from the first experiment suddenly wrong in this version? If one death is better than five, then we should push the person off the bridge. We must admit that the reasons we gave in the first experiment are faulty and there is some other reason why pulling the lever was the right choice, but pushing the person is wrong. Or maybe we must change our mind and admit that our first answer to one of these questions was wrong. Our intuitions have clashed and forced our reasoning to evolve.
You can get creative and invent your own versions of this problem to see how your thinking must adapt. What if you had a choice between one person dying or one million people? What if the five people are death row inmates who have already been sentenced to die, or the one person is a brilliant researcher on the verge of curing cancer?
Over the millennia, philosophers have concocted many such vexing dilemmas so let's talk about a few of our favourites! Which are the most interesting? How do we think about them and answer them? What role do our intuitions play in ethical reasoning?
Join us for fun, friendly and substantive discussion about the important topics of the day. All viewpoints are welcome for this friendly, moderated discussion.
How it Works
Everyone will be invited to share their opinion, share relevant facts and reasoning, and respond to the views of others.
Our moderator will ensure that everyone has equal opportunity to speak and that dialogue will be kept respectful. All viewpoints are welcome. After the event, you are invited to stay for friendly, informal discussion if you wish.
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Aren't you worried about having an event with 50+ people?!?
No because there will not be 50 people at the event. On Meetup, many attendees cancel at the last minute, and many are no-shows who skip the event without cancelling. I set the RSVP limit to 55 people, I reduce that limit to 45 in the last two days before the event, and then 20-30 people will actually attend.
This allows us to hit our attendance target of 15-30 people, and it ensures that attendees have their spot guaranteed weeks in advance. This makes the guest count inaccurate, but it's the simplest way to provide you a reliable and positive RSVP experience.
Suggested Reading
Absurd Trolley Problems Game:
https://neal.fun/absurd-trolley-problems/
Ideals
Please read the Studio 42 Ideals before attending the event:
http://stu42.co/ideals
Admission
Admission is free. We accept donations to help fund our events.
Latecomers
Latecomers are welcome but we start promptly at 6:05pm so if you arrive late, you will miss out!