When the Borrowed Ontology Gets a Driver's Licence

Philosophics — Philosophical and Political Ramblings · Mar 28, 2026 · 20m

Language philosopher Bry Willis argues that the trolley problem, once a mere thought experiment, has become a dangerous blueprint for autonomous technology. The author contends that engineers adopt this moral framework not because it is ethically sound, but because its quantifiable nature is computationally tractable, allowing complex human lives to be reduced to mathematical inputs. By "compiling" these philosophical assumptions into code, moral judgment is pushed upstream into design meetings, where the fluid nuances of human responsibility are frozen into rigid, automated functions…