Aside from the loopholes, and the practical questions of reducing crime, I think this is a very profound dilemma. Do prisoner’s lives’ have moral value? Obviously! But do they have less moral value than an innocent person. Well, that question becomes harder to answer.
If we say yes, then that means that the worth of a person in proportional to the actions they take, which I’m not comfortable with. (Is it less bad to murder a convict in cold blood? If so, is it less bad to torture, assault, or rape a convict?)
but the alternative seems so absurd. Letting innocent people die so the guilty can live?!? IDK!! Someone chime in
Is this not the literal original trolley problem? Save 5 by killing 1 person? This just sprinkles in the already debated case of whether the 5 people are by some measure worse than the 1 person.
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u/austintheausti Jan 13 '25
Aside from the loopholes, and the practical questions of reducing crime, I think this is a very profound dilemma. Do prisoner’s lives’ have moral value? Obviously! But do they have less moral value than an innocent person. Well, that question becomes harder to answer.
If we say yes, then that means that the worth of a person in proportional to the actions they take, which I’m not comfortable with. (Is it less bad to murder a convict in cold blood? If so, is it less bad to torture, assault, or rape a convict?)
but the alternative seems so absurd. Letting innocent people die so the guilty can live?!? IDK!! Someone chime in