I don't think we can judge Harry or any parent saying that he or she would be willing to let the world burn to save his or her child. That isn't selfish, it is called being a parent... It was said at the height of frustration and emotion, only in Harry's case he possibly had the power to do it... The important thing is, he didn't do it and he found another way to save his child.
I said that his attitude was not one that should be held up as the ideal for a society. Also, yes, letting the “world burn” for your child is the epitome of selfishness. As I said, though, I’d save my child first if I had to choose between him and a random child. But, who wouldn’t? Would I let the “world burn” for him, though? I hope not and, if I tried to, I’d hope someone would stop me. And, in my opinion, the important thing isn’t that Dresden didn’t do it (after the fact), but that he was willing to do it. That’s dark. The White Council might be right about Dresden.
An interesting tangent to this is how AI will choose the lesser bad in things like AI driven vehicles in accident scenarios; go straight and kill a child, a dog and a woman, swerve and kill three men and a woman. Does it just do maths? And, what about general or super AI? What types or moral dilemmas will it face?
