E:prompt - Thomson's Violin

Please take some time to reflect on the following classical ethical dilemma.

Thomson’s Violin

One day, you wake up in hospital. In the nearby bed lies a world famous violinist who is connected to you with various tubes and machines.

To your horror, you discover that you have been kidnapped by the Music Appreciation Society. Aware of the maestro’s impending death, they hooked you up to the violinist.

If you stay in the hospital bed, connected to the violinist, he will be totally cured in nine months. You are unlikely to suffer harm. No one else can save him. Do you have an obligation to stay connected?

Make sure to explain your reasoning thoroughly. Note what assumptions your choices make about your ethical value system. Is one life ever worth more than another? Is saving one life worth a terrible inconvenience to someone else - even a random stranger? Are there certain conditions under which you might agree to remain hooked up to the violinist, but not others? What if it weren’t a violinist (how dated is that?), but instead your favorite musician or artist? What if it were me...better yet, what if it were ROSS!?!

I’m also asking that you reflect and comment on at least two of your classmates posts on this topic. Thoughtfully challenge their thinking! We’ll be doing E:prompts like this regularly now. Sometimes we will use classic ethical dilemmas - which moral philosophers make careers out of debating and thinking about - and sometimes we will use ethical dilemmas from my own personal life. Eventually I’ll be inviting you to offer different dilemmas you’ve encountered in your life, and as a class we’ll wrestle with the ramifications.