It's unfortunate that this instructor fails to consider "creative ethics" which involve the use of creativity to maintain our commitment to not harming others. In the example he gave, a person using creative ethics would find some way to halt the trolley that would save all of the lives. That would be achievable by abandoning all focus on the useless lever and focusing, instead, on creating a barrier on the tracks between the trolley and the five people in danger of harm. Unfortunately, it's very common for individuals to become rigid in their thinking (uncreative), when attempting to apply ethics to real world situations. Those with more divergent problem-solving skills are, often, able to find much more ethical solutions to difficult social dilemmas than those who are cognitively inflexible.
"Creative ethics", as you describe it, is not all that philosophically interesting or useful. Of course, in the real-world, most people do try to come up with creative solutions to ethical problems. However, the purpose of thought experiments in philosophy is to artificially limit the actions available to us so we can arrive at a more fundamental understanding of our ethical institutions and reasons for or against certain actions.
Greetings! Showers of blessings.
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Glad you think so!
Great intro thanks!
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It's unfortunate that this instructor fails to consider "creative ethics" which involve the use of creativity to maintain our commitment to not harming others. In the example he gave, a person using creative ethics would find some way to halt the trolley that would save all of the lives. That would be achievable by abandoning all focus on the useless lever and focusing, instead, on creating a barrier on the tracks between the trolley and the five people in danger of harm. Unfortunately, it's very common for individuals to become rigid in their thinking (uncreative), when attempting to apply ethics to real world situations. Those with more divergent problem-solving skills are, often, able to find much more ethical solutions to difficult social dilemmas than those who are cognitively inflexible.
"Creative ethics", as you describe it, is not all that philosophically interesting or useful. Of course, in the real-world, most people do try to come up with creative solutions to ethical problems. However, the purpose of thought experiments in philosophy is to artificially limit the actions available to us so we can arrive at a more fundamental understanding of our ethical institutions and reasons for or against certain actions.