Law in Contemporary Society

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CarlForbes-FirstPaper 3 - 26 Feb 2008 - Main.JulianBaez
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ETHICAL DILEMMAS AND UTILITARIANISM

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 but it has to be higher than the rate for those convicted. Therefore, it is unclear as to why it would be better to acquit ten guilty men than it would be to convict one innocent man. Convicting the innocent man (whom society may not have to know is actually innocent) could serve deterrence purposes. The ten guilty men would be convicted or would not be released from prison (as some hypothetical situations present it) and potential criminals would have a deterring example. Additionally, society would be happier, which utilitarians want, because potential re-offenders would not be back on the streets.

  • It isn't often that one puts oneself in a position absurd enough to be slain by one elegant sentence from Voltaire: Dans [votre] pays il est bon de tuer de temps en temps un amiral pour encourager les autres.
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  • I think the quote translates to: In this country we find it good from time to time to shoot an admiral to encourage the others. - Julian Baez
 

“The Trolley Problem”

In this situation, a train with no brakes is barreling down a track. Five people are tied to the track. You are standing next to a lever, which if pulled will divert the train to another track. However, one person is tied to the second track. Should you pull the lever? Utilitarianism would say that you should. Additionally, utilitarians would say that pulling the lever would be the morally better thing to do than doing nothing at all. Essentially, the argument for saving the five people at the expense of the one is that it will maximize the greatest good for the greatest number of people. However, this does not make sense considering that utilitarians do not care how the “good” is distributed as long as the greatest amount of good possible exists for society.


Revision 3r3 - 26 Feb 2008 - 06:38:39 - JulianBaez
Revision 2r2 - 24 Feb 2008 - 20:18:46 - EbenMoglen
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