Probability Weighting in Ethics

There is evidence that our risk attitudes towards monetary gambles change depending on the absolute probability of obtaining a payoff. In this study, I examine whether the same effect obtains for our moral risk attitudes towards rescue scenarios. I measure subjects’ moral judgments about rescue attempts with two different probabilities of success, so as to determine if this effect exists. My research questions are as follows: 1. Are our moral risk attitudes in rescue scenarios influenced by the absolute level of the probability of success of a rescue attempt? a. When choosing between a probabilistic rescue with a low probability of success, and a sure rescue that is guaranteed to rescue the same expected number of lives, will subjects be risk-seeking? b. When choosing between a probabilistic rescue with a high probability of success, and a sure rescue that is guaranteed to rescue the same expected number of lives, will subjects be risk-averse? 2. How does the success probability of a rescue attempt influence our judgments of its moral permissibility (whether we are allowed to choose some rescue attempt), and our judgments of moral requirement (whether we are required to chose a rescue attempt)?