The case for caring about shrimp

We all know that it’s better to save five people’s lives than to save only one. But in 1977, one philosopher dared to argue…maybe it isn’t? “Should the Numbers Count?” by John Taurek is among the few modern philosophy papers that might fairly be described as infamous. When I was taught it as an undergrad, it was presented as something between a cautionary tale and a punching bag, a set of dubious arguments in favor of a conclusion so absurd that it’s astonishing a respected UCLA professor put his name to it. The most prominent reply, from famed Oxford moral philosopher Derek Parfit,