Ethics is famous for weird and pointless thought experiments. This is mostly bad, but what would happen if we could think of a contrived scenario in which it was actually good?
The story of the fat man in the cave seems clearly inspired by chapter 2 of Winnie-the-Pooh, providing further evidence (if any were needed) for John Tyerman Williams' observation that all Western philosophy is either a preface to or a commentary on Winnie-the-Pooh and The House At Pooh Corner.
I can think of one real-life event which seems parallel to the "head in the cave" version of the "fat man in the cave" thought experiment: Simon Yates' attempted rescue of Joe Simpson on Siula Grande in 1985, as recounted in Touching The Void. After Simpson broke his leg near the summit, Yates lowered him nearly 1000m from a series of poor stances, but on the final lower Simpson went over a cliff that was too long for their rope. After an hour and a half, with his stance collapsing, Yates cut the rope, saving himself but probably dooming Simpson. At the time Yates was heavily criticised for this action, until Simpson (who survived through a combination of good luck and extreme determination) wrote a book saying that as far as he was concerned, Yates had done the right thing.
I think this supports your overall thesis, though: even among high-altitude mountaineers, this kind of moral dilemma is thankfully rare (and as far as I know this precise dilemma is unique). The fact that we're still talking about it 35 years later tells you something! And most writing about the event by climbers focuses on "how not to get into this situation" rather than "what to do when you're in it" - see for instance https://www.andy-kirkpatrick.com/articles/view/avoiding_the_void, or Simon Yates' afterword to Touching The Void.
Yeah. I think it's probably worth people who are being in life and death situations thinking at least a *bit* about what it's like to be in life and death situations, but even then there's probably 999 scenarios you need to consider before you find yourself thinking about scenarios like the potholers in a cave.
I don't remember the Winnie-the-Pooh involving so much dynamite, but I do rather want to read Pooh and the Philosophers now. I just hope it's better than the Tao of Pooh!
The story of the fat man in the cave seems clearly inspired by chapter 2 of Winnie-the-Pooh, providing further evidence (if any were needed) for John Tyerman Williams' observation that all Western philosophy is either a preface to or a commentary on Winnie-the-Pooh and The House At Pooh Corner.
I can think of one real-life event which seems parallel to the "head in the cave" version of the "fat man in the cave" thought experiment: Simon Yates' attempted rescue of Joe Simpson on Siula Grande in 1985, as recounted in Touching The Void. After Simpson broke his leg near the summit, Yates lowered him nearly 1000m from a series of poor stances, but on the final lower Simpson went over a cliff that was too long for their rope. After an hour and a half, with his stance collapsing, Yates cut the rope, saving himself but probably dooming Simpson. At the time Yates was heavily criticised for this action, until Simpson (who survived through a combination of good luck and extreme determination) wrote a book saying that as far as he was concerned, Yates had done the right thing.
I think this supports your overall thesis, though: even among high-altitude mountaineers, this kind of moral dilemma is thankfully rare (and as far as I know this precise dilemma is unique). The fact that we're still talking about it 35 years later tells you something! And most writing about the event by climbers focuses on "how not to get into this situation" rather than "what to do when you're in it" - see for instance https://www.andy-kirkpatrick.com/articles/view/avoiding_the_void, or Simon Yates' afterword to Touching The Void.
Yeah. I think it's probably worth people who are being in life and death situations thinking at least a *bit* about what it's like to be in life and death situations, but even then there's probably 999 scenarios you need to consider before you find yourself thinking about scenarios like the potholers in a cave.
I don't remember the Winnie-the-Pooh involving so much dynamite, but I do rather want to read Pooh and the Philosophers now. I just hope it's better than the Tao of Pooh!