Articulated moral rule systems inevitably generate internal rule conflicts

Evidence

One thing we can say fairly conclusively is that, in a moral rule system that is articulated enough to cover much of the moral life, the rules must, as in the case of the norms discussed earlier, occasionally be in conflict with one another. For example, in one of the most contested remarks by any major moral theorist, Immanuel Kant holds that one is bound not to lie even when faced with an assassin who asks whether his intended victim is in one’s apartment. Kant supposes that effectively turning over the intended victim to the assassin is a less grievous wrong than lying to the assassin. — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 220

Categorization

• DEFINE: Illustrates rule-conflict with the Kant assassin example, showing why principled systems can fail in concrete trust contexts.
• XREF: Parallels the earlier discussion of norms conflicting; also relevant to the reader’s claim that purely rule-based systems cannot underwrite social order without observability. — connects to: Rule-based machine ethics produce unintended emergent consequences — , The Braided Reading EPUB: 5-Year…, 1591; Rules necessarily overreach their justifications because of their intrinsic generality — Frederick Schauer, Thinking Like a Lawyer, 46; Literal application of legal rules sometimes produces absurd against-purpose outcomes — Frederick Schauer, Thinking Like a Lawyer, 284 (+4 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 220

Broader Connections

• Rule-based machine ethics produce unintended emergent consequences #expands (0.85) — , The Braided Reading EPUB, 1591
• Rules necessarily overreach their justifications because of their intrinsic generality #corroborates (0.80) — Frederick Schauer, Thinking Like a Lawyer, 46
• Literal application of legal rules sometimes produces absurd against-purpose outcomes #exemplifies (0.80) — Frederick Schauer, Thinking Like a Lawyer, 284