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Thought Experiment 91: No One Gets Hurt

5/1/2017

3 Comments

 
Picture
Oh I could just wax on about those eyes all night long.
If you want to answer this week's thought experiment in secret, I wouldn't blame you...

--------------------------------------------------
     Scarlett could not believe her luck. For as long as she could remember, Brad Depp had been her heartthrob. Now, amazingly, she had stumbled across his secluded holiday home in the Bahamas, which not even the paparazzi knew about.
     What is more, when Brad saw the solitary walker on the beach, he had offered her a drink, and as they talked he turned out to be as charming as she had imagined. And then he admitted that he had got a bit lonely these last few weeks, and although, because of his lifestyle, it would have to remain a secret, he would very much like it if she were to spend the night with him.
     There was just one problem: Scarlett was married to a man she very much loved. But what you don't know can't hurt you, and he would never know. She would get a night of fantasy and Brad would get a little comfort. Everyone would be either as they were or richer for the experience. No one would suffer. With so much to gain and nothing to lose, what earthly reason could there be for Scarlett to resist Brad's fabulous come-to-bed eyes?

Baggini, J., The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten, 2005, p. 271.
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So what do you think? Will no one really suffer here? Would you accept the offer? Would you want your partner to? I'll be back on Friday to give my answer...as long as my wife will let me.
3 Comments
@b
5/1/2017 12:22:04 pm

Not being able to imagine an earthly reason is a unimpressive justification; an argument from ignorance.

There is a world of difference between being best friends and being best friends in theory. (Or if you prefer; between being a good choice and a good choice on paper.)

Even amongst polygamists, mind blowing orgasms do not typically give you a pass for opportunistic infidelity and deceit.

Irregardless, ultimately almost nobody is weighing up their mating decisions using such a zen metric as a lack of suffering. And I suspect even a trained buddhist should trust that he/she is thinking sufficiently selflessly when weighing up their immediate pleasure and another's remote risk of suffering. They might be blind to their own motivated reasoning. They could even be psychopathic.

Reply
@b
5/1/2017 12:26:15 pm

*trained buddhist should not trust

Reply
Ed Gibney link
5/2/2017 11:02:57 am

Excellent points, although polyamorists will disagree with *even* the polygamists. And I wouldn't say that Scarlett was actually making an argument from ignorance; I just thought that closing statement about earthly reasons was Baggini's attempt to set us up to offer some. I tend to agree with you that the motivated reasoning for opportunistic infidelity is suspect though. But then again, is that just me being motivated with my reasoning not to be deceived myself? Nah... ; )




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