Moral quandary?
Jul. 26th, 2002 01:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
davywavyNo correct answers, I'm just curious as to how you lot think.
Whilst out walking one day, I came to a bridge that lead to the land of the goblins. I crossed the bridge, and found on the other side a gallows, a cage with a man in it, and three goblins dressed as judges.
"Halt!" cried one of the goblins. "We judge those who enter this land. If you tell us truthfully why you have come here, you may enter freely and unharmed. If you lie, then we will hang you!"
I told the Goblins I had visited from curiousity, and they accepted the truth and let me into the kingdom.
Then I spoke to them about the man in the cage.
"He is a challenging case." They said. "He came to us and told us that he had come here for us to hang him. If he speaks the truth, the law says we must let him go unharmed, and if he lies we must hang him. He said we would hang him, but we cannot, because if we do, he will have been telling the truth, and we should let him go free. If we let him go, he would have been lying, and so we should have hung him instead. We are keeping him in the cage until we decide what to do. Can you make any suggestions?"
I thought for a while, and made a suggestion, and told the Goblins my reasoning. The agreed with me, and the justice was served.
What would you suggest the goblins do with their prisoner, and what is your reasoning for your suggestion?
Whilst out walking one day, I came to a bridge that lead to the land of the goblins. I crossed the bridge, and found on the other side a gallows, a cage with a man in it, and three goblins dressed as judges.
"Halt!" cried one of the goblins. "We judge those who enter this land. If you tell us truthfully why you have come here, you may enter freely and unharmed. If you lie, then we will hang you!"
I told the Goblins I had visited from curiousity, and they accepted the truth and let me into the kingdom.
Then I spoke to them about the man in the cage.
"He is a challenging case." They said. "He came to us and told us that he had come here for us to hang him. If he speaks the truth, the law says we must let him go unharmed, and if he lies we must hang him. He said we would hang him, but we cannot, because if we do, he will have been telling the truth, and we should let him go free. If we let him go, he would have been lying, and so we should have hung him instead. We are keeping him in the cage until we decide what to do. Can you make any suggestions?"
I thought for a while, and made a suggestion, and told the Goblins my reasoning. The agreed with me, and the justice was served.
What would you suggest the goblins do with their prisoner, and what is your reasoning for your suggestion?
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no subject
Date: 2002-07-26 06:06 am (UTC)(a) he was being facetious, in which case he was lying, and the goblins can quite happily hang him
(b) It's a genuine suicide attempt, in which case he was telling the truth, in which case the goblins are free to let him go. He can always leave, come back, and say he's there to admire the scenery the next time round if he's really determined.
If you operate according to different principles, the goblins have to know the future. "I am coming to find and marry my true love." may be a true statement of intent, but whether it turns out to be an actual truth or not is impossible for the goblins to assess. Therefore I posit that they work based on whether the person believes what they say to be their true reason for visiting or not, rather than the objective truth of the person's statement.