I agree with your general thrust. The thought experiment is a little bit contrived but deliberately designed to make both options look somewhat plausible. A value monist negative utilitarian could also give the medicine to Alice, so it’s not even clear what option one would go for.
However, what I really wonder though is if “welfare” is the only thing we care about at the end of times? Or is there maybe also the question of how we got there? How we handled ourselves in difficult situations? What values we embodied when we were alive? Are we not at risk of losing our humanity if we subordinate all of our behavior to a “principled” but “acontextual” value monist algorithm (e.g., always maximize “expected welfare”)? These are the kind of questions that I want to trigger reflection about with the thought experiment.
I agree with your general thrust. The thought experiment is a little bit contrived but deliberately designed to make both options look somewhat plausible. A value monist negative utilitarian could also give the medicine to Alice, so it’s not even clear what option one would go for.
However, what I really wonder though is if “welfare” is the only thing we care about at the end of times? Or is there maybe also the question of how we got there? How we handled ourselves in difficult situations? What values we embodied when we were alive? Are we not at risk of losing our humanity if we subordinate all of our behavior to a “principled” but “acontextual” value monist algorithm (e.g., always maximize “expected welfare”)? These are the kind of questions that I want to trigger reflection about with the thought experiment.