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Notes from Lecture on Justice
Jul 23, 2024
Lecture on Justice: Trolley Problem, Moral Reasoning, and Utilitarianism
Introduction
Overview of the program's funding
Trolley Problem Scenario
Scenario 1:
Trolley car hurdling toward five workers on track, brakes fail.
Option to turn onto a side track, sacrificing one worker to save five.
Poll Result:
Majority willing to turn the trolley.
Discussion Points
Majority View: Better to kill one than five.
Example Reference: 9/11 plane crash in Pennsylvania
Minority Opinion: Avoid totalitarian mindset; better to avoid making an active choice to kill.
Alternate Trolley Scenario
Scenario 2:
As an onlooker, push a fat man off a bridge to stop a trolley before hitting five workers.
Poll Result:
Majority unwilling to push the fat man.
Reasons vary: Active choice, involving someone indirectly, difference in direct action.
Ethical Reasoning Types
Consequentialist Reasoning
Morality based on consequences (e.g., greater good).
Categorical Reasoning
Morality based on intrinsic quality of actions (e.g., Kantian ethics).
Utilitarianism
Jeremy Bentham's philosophy:
Maximize utility (pleasure vs. pain).
Bentham's motto: Greatest good for the greatest number.
Case Study: Queen vs. Dudley and Stephens
Summary: Shipwrecked crew, 17-year-old cabin boy killed for survival.
Poll Result:
Majority found it morally wrong, some defended necessity.
Arguments and Counter-Arguments
Defense:
Survival necessity, future societal contribution.
Prosecution:
Morality of taking a life, role of consent.
Moral Philosophy & Principles
Consequentialist Principles:
Depends on outcomes.
Categorical Principles:
Certain actions are intrinsically wrong.
Class Structure & Readings
Syllabus includes philosophers like Aristotle, John Locke, Emmanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, etc.
Practical applications: equality, affirmative action, free speech, same-sex marriage, military conscription.
Risks: Personal and political
Personal Risks:
Disrupts familiar beliefs
Political Risks:
May lead to worse citizenship before better
The Evasion of Skepticism
Tendency to dismiss philosophical debates due to their unresolved nature.
Kant's stance:
Skepticism can’t permanently settle restlessness of reason.
Aim: Awaken reason's restlessness.
Next Steps
Explore utilitarian moral theory further.
Read Bentham and John Stuart Mill.
Additional Elements
Warnings on interpreting moral philosophy.
Interactive opportunities at justiceharvard.org.
đź“„
Full transcript