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Notes -
I’m not saying it never comes up, but if I’m a deontologist, and I subscribe to the ideas in the Declaration of Independence (all men are created equal, they have inalienable rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness) then there are a lot of things that at minimum it would be very very hard to get me to do. Summary detention of a bunch of people isn’t something that should, in my view be on the table. There might be some extreme cases where you have little choice, but getting there isn’t going to be easy, and it would only happen when there’s no other options.
The problem with utilitarian thinking is that those very bright lines aren’t there as a check on behavior. I can do anything I want, with the only caveat being that in my calculations the results are better than whatever I assume would happen if I didn’t do that. And depending on what things I put more weight on, or in what parts of society I judge to be more important, or who I judge more important. There’s no reason why I couldn’t discount the welfare of the poor, or of minorities, or women, or gingers. There’s also no reason I can’t choose the welfare of the elites, the majority ethnic group, men, or bald guys as more important than everyone else.
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