[Cjattwood]

Well, I've just went into my final year at my High School, and decided to take Philosophy, both for a laugh and to actually discuss philosophy. We've been given a booklet containing questions that we're meant to think about, just to get us interested for what's going to be taught over the coming year... Some of these questions are ridiculous though... Like this one, quoted from the booklet;

"You are a teacher who has taken a group of small children to the theatre. You sit upstairs. In the middle of the show, you smell smoke and someone shouts 'Fire'. When you and the children get to the fire exit, you discover it is made of glass and can only be opened from the outside.
There is a man standing in front of it, frozen in panic. It flashes into your mind that you could use the man to smash the glass and get out. This would save all the children. Should you use the man as a sort of battering ram?"

First off, why is a fire exit only openable from the outside, and MADE OUT OF GLASS? I seriously hope the questions don't get any stupider than this one...

 

[FalconP]

Anyone strong enough to use a man as a "battering ram" should be able to smash the glass himself/herself; just wrap your head/fist with thick layers of clothings so that you don't get cut.

 

[Duggeh]

A messy philosophical question to say the least. Ive been studying it at uni in some way shape or form for 3 years now and I don't think that I've ever seen one so convoluted.

 

[mbriant]

Forget the battering ram. It might be more effective for you and the man to toss the children through the glass door as projectiles.

 

[Genetic]

When you will be exposed to Kant's philosophy you'll learn that in that case you're toasted....

Amicalement

PS.
Alternative take: kill the man it's Freddy Krueger....

 

[kunuggs]

why does it say "the man" instead of "a person" or "a man". makes me think that it's a loaded question. either way, i wouldn't use another person as a battering ram (even if I was strong enough). I would just kick out the glass with my foot. If you're wearing pants, it shouldn't hurt you much.

 

[marvin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kunuggs why does it say "the man" instead of "a person" or "a man". makes me think that it's a loaded question. either way, i wouldn't use another person as a battering ram (even if I was strong enough). I would just kick out the glass with my foot. If you're wearing pants, it shouldn't hurt you much.

It uses "a man" when first introducing the man into the story, then switches to "the man" to specify that you're going to use the previously introduced man as a battering ram.

Either way, better that his legs get cut up than mine... You don't know what kind of glass it is, and annealed glass can be very nasty.

 

[Senn20]

Doors can be made out of glass as long as it's tempered safety glass, but in a building such as a theatre it would have to open from the inside at all times to be up to code.

Yeah, dumb question.

 

[Firam]

The theater problem sounds like a messed up version of the runaway trolley problem. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_problem.
In many thought experiments the fat guy is always able to stop the train or save the people but to do so he must die. Fat people get stuck in holes and are big enough to stop heavy objects so they are the chosen ones.

Philosophy is fun and I hope I will be able to take a class in it during college.

 

[kramer5150]

I sat in a Philosophy class in college for 2 days. Thats all I could take, my head was spinning.

**edit** Incidently.. one of my/our buddies here is a philosophy major... SHARP guy Just graduated too. So, certainly there are some who possess the intellect to succeed in that field. My brain however is too black / white, and it goes into overload very easily.

 

[kugino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Genetic When you will be exposed to Kant's philosophy you'll learn that in that case you're toasted.... Amicalement PS. Alternative take: kill the man it's Freddy Krueger....

nice reply, genetic!

maybe in this case it would help to be a utilitarian