[lit-ideas] "Boiling One Baby"

From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:13:38 EDT

In a message dated 4/23/2009 2:43:03 P.M.  Eastern Daylight Time,
rpaul@xxxxxxxx writes:
Come now: if you had to choose  between boiling one baby and letting some
frightful disaster befall a  thousand people—or a million people, if a
thousand is not enough—what would  you do?
----

I've just checked there are 8 google hits for the exact  phrase, 'boiling
one baby'.

In some cases, it's taken out of  context:

"boiling one baby or saving two soldiers"

I liked the  one, 'a madman forcing you to either

boiling one baby or boiling ten  babies

-----

There is an online text, from which R. Paul quoted,  which provides the
continuation of the passage. Elizabeth Anscombe goes on to  criticise R. M.
Hare on

"It's not good to boil babies"

--- as _relative_ to a 'form of life'. Her  example, "Sodomy is always
wrong".

----


Cheers,

JL

**************Access 350+ FREE radio stations anytime from anywhere on the
web. Get the Radio Toolbar!
(http://toolbar.aol.com/aolradio/download.html?ncid=emlcntusdown00000003)
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html

[lit-ideas] "Boiling One Baby"

Other related posts: