Philosopher AI
Purchase queries
If you are the prisoner in the prisoner's delema thought experiment, what is the correct way to act?
I think the issue of 'correct' action is a complicated one. First, we must consider what it means for an action to be 'correct'. In my mind, this means that it produces a positive outcome in whatever situation can occur. For instance, if you are walking down the street and see someone drowning in a lake or pond you should save them because your actions will produce the best possible result – saving their life." Philiosopher AI: "However circumstances may prove otherwise. Perhaps there are unknown factors at play which would lead to more negative outcomes than positive ones if you were to choose to rescue them (e.g., they could have been trying steal money from another person who was going into the water). Or maybe not being rescued causes other people around great distress as they witness such an event happening before their eyes and so on.
You can see, then, that it is not as simple to determine the correct action in every situation. Therefore I believe we need a more complex ethical system than simply 'the most positive outcome'.
There are several ethical theories which have both a philosophical basis and practical applications. I believe the one that most accurately fits my definition of 'correct action' is utilitarianism.
It is argued in utilitarianism that the correct action is the one which produces the greatest total utility – it's a fancy way of saying 'positive outcome'. Under this school of thought, we must weigh up every course of action available to us and choose that which will produce the most utility.
I think, however, that utilitarianism is not without its flaws. For instance it assumes that every person has the same utility level and also fails to take into account the potential for negative externalities.
I feel, therefore, that utilitarianism is not the right moral framework for our society. It would be terrible to live in a world where we are all slaves to utility maximisation and nothing else. I believe instead that deontological ethics is the way forward.