QUESTION 3

QUESTION 3

3. “The possession of knowledge carries an ethical responsibility.”

Evaluate this claim.

2. “Only seeing general patterns can give us knowledge. Only seeing particular examples can give us understanding.” To what extent do you

agree with these assertions?

An example might be the famous Trolley question.

The trolley problem is a thought experiment in ethics, first introduced by Philippa Foot in 1967, but also extensively analyzed by Judith Jarvis Thomson, Peter Unger, and Frances Kamm as recently as 1996. Outside of the domain of traditional philosophical discussion, the trolley problem has been a significant feature in the fields of cognitive science and, more recently, of neuroethics. It has also been a topic on various TV shows dealing with human psychology.

The general form of the problem is this: Person A can take an action which would benefit many people, but in doing so, person B would be unfairly harmed. Under what circumstances would it be morally just for Person A to violate Person B's rights in order to benefit the group?

This is what philosophers call the “trolley dilemma,” which is used to explore how people reason about morally ambiguous situations. The scenario is often used together with another, the so-called “footbridge dilemma.”

First, we have the switch dilemma: A runaway trolley is hurtling down the tracks toward five people who will be killed if it proceeds on its present course. You can save these five people by diverting the trolley onto a different set of tracks, one that has only one person on it, but if you do this that person will be killed. Is it morally permissible to turn the trolley and thus prevent five deaths at the cost of one?

Then we have the footbridge dilemma: Once again, the trolley is headed for five people. You are standing next to a large man on a footbridge spanning the tracks. The only way to save the five people is to push this man off the footbridge and into the path of the trolley. Is that morally permissible?

These two cases create a puzzle for moral philosophers: What makes it okay to sacrifice one person to save five others in the switch case but not in the footbridge case?

What are you responsible for? Are you ethically responsible just because you know about the situation? Would you be responsible if you moved the lever? Would you be responsible for the death

of the 3 people if you didn't move the lever?It's interesting because it raises the issue of whether you would be responsible not only for your actions but also your inactions.

And how does responsibility manifest? Looking at guilt and emotional feelings of responsibility would certainly be a thought-provoking area. I would say I often feel responsible for things not entirely in my power - and through an emotional guilt simply that

I knew about it or was an observer rather than a logical feeling that I could have done something. It might be interesting in the essay to examine this distinction and thereby look at Ways of

Knowing as well as the title question.

3. “The possession of knowledge carries an ethical responsibility.” Evaluate this claim.

Does ethical responsibility comes from how you use your knowledge and not just having the knowledge?


Because we can, should we?


What is the importance of a moral society? Is there importance in it?


What are the possible repercussions if we do not act, or

if we do?


What are examples of the misuse of the knowledge?


Is morality a firm set of rules, or does each society create its own

moral code?


What are the Areas of Knowledge you would associate with this

question? How?What are the Ways of Knowing

that you would associate with this question? How?


What are some professions that represent different AoK’s that may

help in your exploration of this question?


Counter Claims?


What is “evaluate?


What is “The possession of Knowledge”.


What is “ethical responsibility”?


How does one “carry an ethical responsibility.”?


What is a “claim” and how does one evaluate it?


On what basis do we decide what is the right thing to do?

Documents

QUESTION 3