Wednesday, May 03, 2006

The perils of a being Big

It seems that "big" men are a major source of ethical conundrums, at least according to this BBC article.

(h/t Crooked Timber)

I teach a course in Engineering Ethics, but never get to cover extreme cases like those discussed in the BBC article.

2 comments:

Patia said...

Can it ever be morally acceptable to kill an innocent person if that is the only way to save many?

Although the BBC voters are erring on the side of kindness, I suspect an awful lot of skinny Americans think fat people are just plain guilty, and would be more than happy to push one in front of a trolley.

But, you're not fat.

big mike said...

>But, you're not fat.

Nope, just big. I was a bit shocked at the way the BBC phrased their ethical conundra.

Side note:
I used to have dreams (not really nightmares) about being unable to complete some task because it required me to go through a tiny door or a tight passage -big enough for most people, but not big enough for me.