jim and the indians
Jim is visiting a frontier town that has been facing attacks by Indians (Native Americans). 10 of these Indians have been captured, and are scheduled to be executed. The mayor says that, since Jim is such an honored guest, he should kill one of the Indians. If Jim does that, the mayor will release the other 9 Indians.
Jim does not want to hurt anyone. Should he do it?
This is similar to SPUR, but the major difference here is that if Jim does the killing, it’ll be Jim’s fault, and if he doesn’t, then it’ll be the mayor’s fault. Can we really look at things from “the point of view of the universe” or is the person taking the actions relevant? In other words, it’s SPUR but instead of a trolley it’s another agent.
