A Paradoxical Puzzle For Ethical Utilitarians

April 7, 2018

A utilitarian blinks. When his eyes open a split second later, he’s astounded to discover that he’s in an entirely different place. Omega stands in front of him. “I’ve brought you here to play a game,” Omega says. “The well-being of humanity depends on your choices, so pay very close attention. You start with 100 credits.” A screen suddenly appears with the number 100 on it. “To play the game,” Omega continues, “just think of some number of credits that you’d like to bet during the next r...

Who Are We Kind To, Who Do We Kill?

July 24, 2017

I've been trying to better understand and resolve two seemingly contradictory (yet I think critically important) facts about human nature: (1) Human groups have pretty much always done unspeakably horrible things to other groups (e.g., think mass murder and numerous forms of oppression). And fairly often, while it is happening, this evil seems to be condoned, supported, or only passively opposed by a large and fairly culturally representative group, rather than by just a few very bad people....