Research Questions
Ethics
What you owe, and to whom.
Opening your questions…
Research Questions
Ethics
What you owe, and to whom.
15 questions
Where to begin
Can a deal be unfair if both sides agree to it?A desperate person accepts poverty wages, or sells a kidney, because every other option is worse. They chose it, and it may still be exploitation.
- Can a tool share the blame?The old defense says a sword kills no one; only its wielder does. Does that defense still work for an AI that teaches someone how to harm others?Pick one of 3
- Do the ends justify the means?Sometimes the only way to stop something terrible is to do something terrible yourself. Even then, your hands are not quite clean.Pick one of 3
- Do we owe anything to people who aren't born yet?The people who will live with our climate, our debts and our ruins cannot vote, bargain or thank anyone.
- Does nature matter for its own sake?Picture a forest that vanishes without a single person or animal ever noticing or suffering.
- Five lives or one?A runaway trolley will kill five people. You can switch it onto a track where it will kill one. Do you pull the lever—and would your answer change if you had to push that person instead?Pick one of 3
- Have you ever done anything purely for someone else?Asked why he gave money to a beggar, Hobbes said it eased his own distress at the man's misery. Every kindness may pay the giver something; whether that spoils it is the question.
- If you knew you'd never be caught, would you still be good?In Plato's Republic, a shepherd finds a ring that makes him invisible. He uses it to seduce a queen, kill a king and take the throne.Pick one of 4
- Is it ever justifiable to lie?Kant held that you may not lie even to a murderer asking where your friend is hiding. Most people lie every day to be kind: about the haircut, the gift, the dinner.Pick one of 4
- Is it wrong to eat animals?The animal on your plate could feel pain and fear. If you had to kill it yourself, you would find out what you really think.Pick one of 4
- Is morality just a matter of opinion?Whole societies have approved of slavery. If they were wrong, something besides opinion was doing the judging.Pick one of 3
- Should you always keep your word?You made a promise to someone who has since forgotten it, and breaking it would help more people. Nobody would ever know.
- The coin flipTwo drivers leave the same party equally drunk. A child runs into the road in front of one, who kills the child; the other gets home without hurting anyone. Do they deserve different blame?
- The pond and the distanceYou would ruin an expensive suit to pull a drowning child from a pond. Does the child dying far away have a weaker claim on you?Pick one of 4
- The victim you can pictureThink of a cause one person's story won you over to. Did it help you see, or keep you from seeing?
