Off the Rails: Thin Moral Thinking and Stylized Ethical Dilemmas

Heywood, Paolo; Reed, Adam

Abstract

This introduction situates the trolley problem and other such dilemmas in anthropological debates about contextualisation and abstraction both within and beyond the realm of the moral. We highlight some of the criticisms anthropologists have made of the ‘thinness’ of ethical thought experiments, whilst also suggesting some ways in which philosophers might wish to defend them. We also point to a growing interest on the part of a range of anthropologists in formalised, stylized, and abbreviated modes of ethical reasoning and emphasise the importance of attending to such forms of reasoning, even though they may conflict with our disciplinary preference for the ‘thick’ and the contextualised.

Citation

Heywood, P., & Reed, A. (2023). Off the Rails: Thin Moral Thinking and Stylized Ethical Dilemmas. Social Analysis: The International Journal of Anthropology, 67(3), 45-57. https://doi.org/10.3167/sa.2023.670303

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 1, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Sep 1, 2023
• Publication Date: 2023
• Deposit Date: Feb 28, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 6, 2024
• Journal: Social Analysis
• Print ISSN: 0155-977X
• Electronic ISSN: 1558-5727
• Publisher: Berghahn Journals
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 67
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 45-57
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3167/sa.2023.670303
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2288788