The Case of the Obliging Stranger
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10700480 |
|---|---|
| Authors | William H Gass (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1957 |
| Volume | 66 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 193 |
| Publication date | 1957-04-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Philosophical Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0031-8108 • E-ISSN: 1558-1470 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/2182374 |
| OpenAlex | W2317910895 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
IMAGINE I approach a stranger on the street and say to him, If you please, sir, I desire to perform an experiment with your aid. The stranger is obliging, and I lead him away. In a dark place conveniently by, I strike his head with the broad of an axe and cart him home. I place him, buttered and trussed, in an ample electric oven. The thermostat reads 4500 F. Thereupon I go off to play poker with friends and forget all about the obliging stranger in the stove. When I return, I realize I have overbaked my specimen, and the experiment, alas, is ruined. Something has been done wrong. Or something wrong has been done. Any ethic that does not roundly condemn my action is vicious. It is interesting that none is vicious for this reason. It is also interesting that no more convincing refutation of any ethic could be given than by showing that it approved of my baking the obliging stranger. This is really all I have to say, but I shall not stop on that account. Indeed, I shall begin again
Contemporary philosophy · Epistemology · Ethics in medical practice · Philosophy · Psychology
| Citations per year | 0.11 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1999 - 2023 (25) |
| Highly cited | No |