Why I Don't Buy Any of the Counterexamples to Consequentialism

Utilitarians are right about footbridge, transplant, etc

I’ll be at EAG London—come say hi! This is me. My name is Matthew Adelstein. Reach out on Swapcard if you have ideas for high-impact things to write about. The living human, not the corpse! Though I see why it might be confusing, because the corpse is labeled “Bentham” There are a number of famous examples that are often cited to discredit consequentialism. Some examples: Footbridge: you can push a large man off a bridge to stop a train from killing five people. Intuitively it seems wrong to push him. But doing so would lead to better consequences. Transplant: you’re a doctor who can…

saved by

• Jackson Kozlowski

related reading

• Consequentialism FAQweb.archive.org
• Rule Consequentialism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)plato.stanford.edu
• [REPOST] Epistemic Learned Helplessness | Slate Star Codexslatestarcodex.com
• Arguments for Utilitarianism | Utilitarianism.netutilitarianism.net
• Point-by-point critique of Ord’s “Why I’m Not a Negative Utilitarian”centerforreducingsuffering.org
• How To Be Good | The New Yorkernewyorker.com
• Deontology and virtue ethics as "effective theories" of consequentialist ethics — LessWronglesswrong.com
• Why I am not an effective altruist - by Erik Hoeltheintrinsicperspective.com
• Why Not Utilitarianism?bleedingheartlibertarians.com
• Utilitarianism, Act and Rule | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophyiep.utm.edu
• Self-Serving utilitarian argumentsaskell.blog
• Diseased thinking: dissolving questions about disease — LessWronglesswrong.com