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Ohgodgethelp t1_jcg1biz wrote

Reply to comment by SmorgasConfigurator in Bentham’s Mugging: A dialogue on how to exploit utilitarians by JohanEGustafsson

>What matters to Bentham is the future, so his moral calculus would be the same. That is, on the second iteration of the threat, Bentham must hand over another 10£. And so on...

I feel like I should point out this is literally how the mafia works. You add a few layers, such as the money was originally given as a loan, and the 10 is an "interest payment," meaning it comes on regular schedules and isn't a surprising or crippling amount.

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qj-_-tp t1_jcg8y93 wrote

While those conjectures are fascinating to debate, at some point an ice pick to the temple obviates the need to make any further payments, or have tedious ongoing non-consensual encounters with violent criminals.
I get that’s a different debate. But I think variety in debates leads to better, more optimal outcomes, so we should consider it.
“How many times has it been? Three? Here’s the situation, I don’t have cash handy, but I have something of equivalent value that I can give you instead.” “Well, don’t just stand there, gimme!” And thus the infinite regression is averted and, bonus, after cleaning the ice pick, it can be used again if needed elsewhere.

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Ohgodgethelp t1_jcghkf4 wrote

>So maybe the Mugger should up the price -- why ask for a measly 10£ if it only can be done once? And now we are in familiar, but arguably unavoidable, "icky" territory of assining cash value to the physical well-being of individual humans

From the post above mine. This raises another interesting question, where there is a threshold variable. From 0 to x dollars life has a value. At X dollars the cost to self passes the danger to self and the icepick becomes an attractive option. So the mugger does in fact start the process of assigning a value to a life. Then the individual (or more realistically the community that looks away) decides at what point that the danger to self and the value of the muggers life cross. So really it wanders into the territory of the most utilitarian of pursuits, the judicial system.

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qj-_-tp t1_jcgjxu0 wrote

Excellent. You picked up the ice pick I casually placed within reach and used it as I had intended. Metaphorically speaking…

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