You’ve identified a subtle problem with implementing decision theories, but the answer that the commonsense version of TDT “should” give is pretty clear: if the differences between two situations don’t massively affect the utilities involved (from the perspective of the deciding agent), then they should belong to the same reference class.
If you shouldn’t kill the patient in a house, then you still shouldn’t kill him with a mouse, or on a boat, with a goat, on a train, in the rain, here or there, or anywhere.
this is somewhat circular. It works for the example but not knowing how similar two situations have to be before similar decisions produce similar utility is part of the problem.
You’ve identified a subtle problem with implementing decision theories, but the answer that the commonsense version of TDT “should” give is pretty clear: if the differences between two situations don’t massively affect the utilities involved (from the perspective of the deciding agent), then they should belong to the same reference class.
If you shouldn’t kill the patient in a house, then you still shouldn’t kill him with a mouse, or on a boat, with a goat, on a train, in the rain, here or there, or anywhere.
this is somewhat circular. It works for the example but not knowing how similar two situations have to be before similar decisions produce similar utility is part of the problem.