#22 - Thinking Through Thought Experiments

Ben Chugg and Vaden Masrani — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 17:00:00 -0700

In this episode, we discuss Peter Singer's famous drowning child thought experiment, the role of moral theories, and the role of thought experiments in moral reasoning. From our perspectives, the conversation went something like this:

Ben's POV: Bravely and boldly trying to think through problems, Ben puts forward a stunningly insightful theory about the role of moral argumentation. Vaden, jealous of the profundity of Ben's message, tries to disagree but can't.

Vaden's POV: What the eff is Ben talking about? I disagree. No wait nvm I agree. Let's change the subject.

References in intro segment:

Talk by Joseph Agassi
Robert Sapolsky's book Behave
Milgram experiments
Stanford Prison Experiments (see also: Radio Lab's The Bad Show)

References in main segment:

Famine, Affluence, and Morality by Peter Singer
The Organization for the Prevention of Intense Suffering (OPIS)
Reasons and Persons by Derek Parfit
Galileo's thought experiment: Parts of Falling Objects
Einstein's thought experiments

Put on a suit and drown a child before sending your best moral theory to incrementspodcast@gmail.com.

Increments - Episodes Tagged with “Peter Singer”

#22 - Thinking Through Thought Experiments