Ewing's Innocent Criminal thought experiment is intended to show that
A) utilitarianism could sanction punishing a person to increase overall happiness, even if he doesn't deserve punishment.
B) utility and justice amount to the same thing.
C) utilitarianism would never sanction punishing a person merely to increase overall happiness.
D) sometimes innocent people should be punished for the good of society.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Ewing's Innocent Criminal thought experiment critiques utilitarianism by illustrating how it could justify punishing an innocent person if doing so would lead to a greater overall happiness, highlighting a potential conflict between utilitarianism and moral intuitions about justice and desert.

Ewing's Innocent Criminal Thought Experiment Is Intended to Show That