6min chapter

Making Sense with Sam Harris cover image

#305 — Moral Knowledge

Making Sense with Sam Harris

CHAPTER

The Danger of Utilitarianism

The danger of maximizing well-being is that you can find edge cases, he says. An example would be something like this serial killer surgeon who has five patients on the operating table and kills one person to save five others. Most people sort of get off the bus with that sort of example; it's very difficult to do away with. But there are probably local cases where the situation flips because we really are in extremis, right?

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