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Fight The Hypo: Fake Arguments, Trolleyology, And The Limits Of Hypotheticals, Jethro K. Lieberman

Tribeca Square Press

The hypothetical is the staple of the law school classroom and useful in most intellectual endeavors. But, this inaugural lecture argues, interlocutors frequently misuse and misinterpret responses to hypotheticals because they demand that their respondents accept the “facts” embedded within. This form of argument, dubbed “FAKE” (for “Facts Are Known Exactly”), poses “facts” that are either impossible to accept or highly improbable and that would provoke counterarguments but for the command to accept the facts as hypothesized. The author presents his thesis in part through the lens of recent literature on the ethics of runaway trolley cars (these cases constitute …