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UTILITARIAN_CALCULUS

                                               May  12, 2014

Commentary on the GM ignition lock case over at dkos held
it up as an example of "utilitarian calculus", and it's
claimed this has been discredited by philosophers

                                                                 TROLLEY_FLAB
There are decisions that need to get made,
and whatever it's flaws, some sort of risk
neutral, utilitarian calculus would seem to
be one of the more desireable options.


    Okay: GM could've spent another buck each
    on the ignition locks, and that probably
    would've saved a dozen lives.  They take
    it as a given that once that was known,
    they should've done that--

    But myself, I guarantee you that there are
    other systems on the car where safety could
    be improved by spending another buck per
    car-- and there could easily be places where       Brakes,
    that could save even more than a dozen lives.      Air bags, seat belts,
                                                       Emissions filters...
    Why spend a buck in one place or the other?
    Should you spend it in both?  Or perhaps
    neither, maybe it's all already safe enough?




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