If we have to choose between having a 75 year old and a 5 year old die, most people would choose the 75 year old. They would be dying relatively soon anyways.
I love both. The "if you had to choose" argument is a horribly utilitaristic one and I'm happy I'm neither related nor acquainted with anybody seriously bringing it up.
This is not a hypothetical. Doctors are literally making these decisions everyday when they practice medice, and the CDC is also making these decisions right now in the context of the coronavirus.
It's based on the egalitarian notion that every human deserves a long and healthy life.
If an older person's life ends a bit earlier than it should have, it's sad. But a child's life ending premature, before they've had much of a life at all, is worse, by most peoples' calculus.
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If we have to choose between having a 75 year old and a 5 year old die, most people would choose the 75 year old. They would be dying relatively soon anyways.
I love both. The "if you had to choose" argument is a horribly utilitaristic one and I'm happy I'm neither related nor acquainted with anybody seriously bringing it up.
This is not a hypothetical. Doctors are literally making these decisions everyday when they practice medice, and the CDC is also making these decisions right now in the context of the coronavirus.
It's based on the egalitarian notion that every human deserves a long and healthy life.
If an older person's life ends a bit earlier than it should have, it's sad. But a child's life ending premature, before they've had much of a life at all, is worse, by most peoples' calculus.
horribly utilitaristic invites 'one man's meat is another man's poison.' Lots of people think utility is a higher goal.