Kavka's Toxin Puzzle

Here's a semi-famous thought experiment that asks us to consider the issue of determinism. It comes from Gregory S. Kavka's book The Toxin Puzzle (1983). Read the puzzle and then speculate on its implications. Do not use any outside sources or google. Being confused is fine--plagiarism is not.

Here it is:

There is a toxin which, upon consumption, will make you violently ill for a few hours. You will receive a sizeable lump of money if you are able to intend, at present, to drink this toxin a few days into the future. If the intention is truly and successfully formed, you will be awarded the money without ever having drunk the toxin, and whether you fulfill your original intention or not will not change your reward.

So what's the problem here? This is a tough one. Try to work it out.

My Fair Bentham

The Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw (whom you may know as the author of Pygmalion) was famous for his one-liners. (Any quotation dictionary will feature hundreds of Shavian remarks.) Here's one that relates to what we've been discussing in class:

"You have no more right to consume happiness without producing it than to consume wealth without producing it."

Consider the language of this remark and comment on its implications and applications to daily life.