《公正该如何做是好》第一课1.docx
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《公正该如何做是好》第一课1
Thisisacourseaboutjusticeandwebeginwithastory.Supposeyou'rethedriverofatrolleycar,andyourtrolleycarishurtlingdownthetrackat60milesanhour.Andattheendofthetrack,younoticefiveworkersworkingonthetrack.Youtrytostopbutyoucan't,yourbrakesdon'twork.Youfeeldesperatebecauseyouknowthatifyoucrashintothesefiveworkers,theywillalldie.Let'sassumeyouknowthatforsure.Andsoyoufeelhelplessuntilyounoticethatthereis,offtotheright,asidetrackandattheendofthattrack,thereisoneworkerworkingonthetrack.Yoursteeringwheelworks,soyoucanturnthetrolleycar,ifyouwantto,ontothesidetrackkillingtheonebutsparingthefive.Here'sourfirstquestion:
what'stherightthingtodo?
Whatwouldyoudo?
Let'stakeapoll.Howmanywouldturnthetrolleycarontothesidetrack?
Raiseyourhands.Howmanywouldn't?
Howmanywouldgostraightahead?
Keepyourhandsupthoseofyouwhowouldgostraightahead.Ahandfulofpeoplewould,thevastmajoritywouldturn.Let'shearfirst,nowweneedtobegintoinvestigatethereasonswhyyouthinkit'stherightthingtodo.
Let'sbeginwiththoseinthemajoritywhowouldturntogoontothesidetrack.Whywouldyoudoit?
Whatwouldbeyourreason?
Who'swillingtovolunteerareason?
Goahead.Standup.Becauseitcan'tberighttokillfivepeoplewhenyoucanonlykillonepersoninstead.Itwouldn'tberighttokillfiveifyoucouldkillonepersoninstead.That'sagoodreason.Whoelse?
Doeseverybodyagreewiththatreason?
Goahead.WellIwasthinkingit'sthesamereasonon9/11withregardtothepeoplewhoflewtheplaneintothePennsylvaniafieldasheroesbecausetheychosetokillthepeopleontheplaneandnotkillmorepeopleinbigbuildings.Sotheprincipletherewasthesameon9/11.It'satragiccircumstancebutbettertokillonesothatfivecanlive,isthatthereasonmostofyouhad,thoseofyouwhowouldturn?
Yes?
Let'shearnowfromthoseintheminority,thosewhowouldn'tturn.Yes.Well,Ithinkthat'sthesametypeofmentalitythatjustifiesgenocideandtotalitarianism.Inordertosaveonetypeofrace,youwipeouttheother.Sowhatwouldyoudointhiscase?
Youwould,toavoidthehorrorsofgenocide,youwouldcrashintothefiveandkillthem?
Presumably,yes.Youwould?
-Yeah.Okay.Whoelse?
That'sabraveanswer.Thankyou.
Let'sconsideranothertrolleycarcaseandseewhetherthoseofyouinthemajoritywanttoadheretotheprinciple:
"betterthatoneshoulddiesothatfiveshouldlive."Thistimeyou'renotthedriverofthetrolleycar,you'reanonlooker.You'restandingonabridgeoverlookingatrolleycartrack.Anddownthetrackcomesatrolleycar,attheendofthetrackarefiveworkers,thebrakesdon'twork,thetrolleycarisabouttocareenintothefiveandkillthem.Andnow,you'renotthedriver,youreallyfeelhelplessuntilyounoticestandingnexttoyou,leaningoverthebridgeisaveryfatman.Andyoucouldgivehimashove.Hewouldfalloverthebridgeontothetrackrightinthewayofthetrolleycar.Hewoulddiebuthewouldsparethefive.Now,howmanywouldpushthefatmanoverthebridge?
Raiseyourhand.
Howmanywouldn't?
Mostpeoplewouldn't.Here'stheobviousquestion.Whatbecameoftheprinciple"bettertosavefivelives
evenifitmeanssacrificingone?
"Whatbecameoftheprinciple
thatalmosteveryoneendorsedinthefirstcase?
Ineedtohearfromsomeonewhowasinthemajorityinbothcases.Howdoyouexplainthedifferencebetweenthetwo?
Yes.Thesecondone,Iguess,involvesanactivechoiceofpushingapersondown
whichIguessthatpersonhimselfwouldotherwisenothavebeeninvolvedinthesituationatall.Andsotochooseonhisbehalf,Iguess,toinvolvehiminsomethingthatheotherwisewouldhaveescapedis,Iguess,morethanwhatyouhaveinthefirstcasewherethethreeparties,thedriverandthetwosetsofworkers,arealready,Iguess,inthesituation.Buttheguyworking,theoneonthetrackofftotheside,hedidn'tchoosetosacrificehislifeanymorethanthefatmandid,didhe?
That'strue,buthewasonthetracksand...Thisguywasonthebridge.
Goahead,youcancomebackifyouwant.Allright.It'sahardquestion.Youdidwell.Youdidverywell.It'sahardquestion.
Whoelsecanfindawayofreconcilingthereactionofthemajorityinthesetwocases?
Yes.Well,Iguessinthefirstcasewhereyouhavetheoneworkerandthefive,it'sachoicebetweenthosetwoandyouhavetomakeacertainchoiceandpeoplearegoingtodiebecauseofthetrolleycar,notnecessarilybecauseofyourdirectactions.Thetrolleycarisarunawaything
andyou'remakingasplitsecondchoice.Whereaspushingthefatmanoverisanactualactofmurderonyourpart.Youhavecontroloverthatwhereasyoumaynothavecontroloverthetrolleycar.SoIthinkit'saslightlydifferentsituation.Allright,whohasareply?
That'sgood.Whohasaway?
Whowantstoreply?
Isthatawayoutofthis?
Idon'tthinkthat'saverygoodreasonbecauseyouchooseto-eitherwayyouhavetochoosewhodiesbecauseyoueitherchoosetoturnandkilltheperson,whichisanactofconsciousthoughttoturn,oryouchoosetopushthefatmanoverwhichisalsoanactive,consciousaction.Soeitherway,you'remakingachoice.Doyouwanttoreply?
I'mnotreallysurethatthat'sthecase.Itjuststillseemskindofdifferent.Theactofactuallypushingsomeoneoverontothetracksandkillinghim,youareactuallykillinghimyourself.You'repushinghimwithyourownhands.You'repushinghimandthat'sdifferentthansteeringsomethingthatisgoingtocause
deathintoanother.Youknow,itdoesn'treallysoundrightsayingitnow.
No,no.It'sgood.It'sgood.What'syourname?
Andrew.Andrew.Letmeaskyouthisquestion,Andrew.Yes.Supposestandingonthebridgenexttothefatman,Ididn'thavetopushhim,supposehewasstandingoveratrapdoorthatIcouldopenbyturningasteeringwheellikethat.Wouldyouturn?
Forsomereason,thatstilljustseemsmorewrong.Right?
Imean,maybeifyouaccidentallylikeleanedintothesteeringwheelorsomethinglikethat.But...Orsaythatthecarishurtlingtowardsaswitchthatwilldropthetrap.ThenIcouldagreewiththat.That'sallright.Fairenough.Itstillseemswronginawaythatitdoesn'tseemwronginthefirstcasetoturn,yousay.Andinanotherway,Imean,inthefirstsituationyou'reinvolveddirectlywiththesituation.Inthesecondone,you'reanonlookeraswell.Allright.-Soyouhavethechoiceofbecominginvolvedornotbypushingthefatman.Allright.Let'sforgetforthemomentaboutthiscase.
That'sgood.Let'simagineadifferentcase.Thistimeyou'readoctorinanemergencyroomandsixpatientscometoyou.They'vebeeninaterribletrolleycarwreck.Fiveofthemsustainmoderateinjuries,oneisseverelyinjured,youcouldspendalldaycaringfortheoneseverelyinjuredvictimbutinthattime,thefivewoulddie.Oryoucouldlookafterthefive,restorethemtohealthbutduringthattime,theoneseverelyinjuredpersonwoulddie.Howmanywouldsavethefive?
Nowasthedoctor,howmanywouldsavetheone?
Veryfewpeople,justahandfulofpeople.Samereason,Iassume.Onelifeversusfive?
Nowconsideranotherdoctorcase.Thistime,you'reatransplantsurgeonandyouhavefivepatients,eachindesperateneedofanorgantransplantinordertosurvive.Oneneedsaheart,onealung,oneakidney,onealiver,andthefifthapancreas.Andyouhavenoorgandonors.Youareabouttoseethemdie.Andthenitoccurstoyouthatinthenextroomthere'sahealthyguywhocameinforacheck-up.Andhe's–youlikethat–andhe'stakinganap,youcouldgoinveryquietly,yankoutthefiveorgans,thatpersonwoulddie,butyoucouldsavethefive.Howmanywoulddoit?
Anyone?
Howmany?
Putyourhandsupifyouwoulddoit.Anyoneinthebalcony?
Iwould.Youwould?
Becareful,don'tleanovertoomuch.Howmanywouldn't?
Allright.Whatdoyousay?
Speakupinthebalcony,youwhowouldyankouttheorgans.Why?
I'dactuallyliketoexploreaslightlyalternatepossibilityofjusttakingtheoneofthefivewhoneedsanorganwhodiesfirstandusingtheirfourhealthyorganstosavetheotherfour.That'saprettygoodidea.That'sagreatideaexceptforthefactthatyoujustwreckedthephilosophicalpoint.
Let'sstepbackfromthesestoriesandtheseargumentstonoticeacoupleofthingsaboutthewaytheargumentshavebeguntounfold.Certainmoralprincipleshavealreadybeguntoemergefromthediscussionswe'vehad.Andlet'sconsiderwhatthosemoralprincipleslooklike.Thefirstmoralprinciplethatemergedinthediscussionsaidtherightthingtodo,themoralthingtododependsontheconsequencesthatwillresultfromyouraction.Attheendoftheday,betterthatfiveshouldliveevenifonemustdie.That'sanexampleofconsequentialistmoralreasoning.Consequentialistmoralreasoninglocatesmoralityintheconsequencesofanact,inthestateoftheworldthatwillresultfromthethingyoudo.Butthenwewentalittlefurther,weconsideredthoseothercasesandpeopleweren'tsosureaboutconsequentialistmoralreasoning.Whenpeoplehesitatedtopushthefatmanoverthebridgeortoyankouttheorgansoftheinnocentpatient,peoplegesturedtowardreasonshavingtodowiththeintrinsicqualityoftheactitself,consequencesbewhattheymay.
Peoplewerereluctant.Peoplethoughtitwasjustwrong,categoricallywrong,tokillaperson,aninnocentperson,evenforthesakeofsavingfivelives.Atleastpeoplethoughtthatinthesecondversionofeachstoryweconside