The trolley problem

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How do you answer the trolley problem?

wikipedia wrote:

The trolley problem is a thought experiment in ethics. The general form of the problem is this: There is a runaway trolley barreling down the railway tracks. Ahead, on the tracks, there are five people tied up and unable to move. The trolley is headed straight for them. You are standing some distance off in the train yard, next to a lever. If you pull this lever, the trolley will switch to a different set of tracks. However, you notice that there is one person on the side track. You have two options: (1) Do nothing, and the trolley kills the five people on the main track. (2) Pull the lever, diverting the trolley onto the side track where it will kill one person. Which is the correct choice?

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One or many. That's the choice.

1 Reply

@Tuna,

Quote:

Ahead, on the tracks, there are five people tied up and unable to move.

Let it roll.

2 Replies

@layman,

Thank Mergatroid, Layman.

You're a freakin' genius.

1 Reply

@Tuna,

I have a little feelin here that you just bein sarcastic and you're missin the whole damn point, eh, Tuna? Mebbe I should oughta say a BIG-ASS feelin. But the answer is obvious aint it? What this guy done said:

Quote:

“There are four kinds of Homicide: felonious, excusable, justifiable, and praiseworthy.” (Ambrose Bierce)

1 Reply

@layman,

No, I wasn't being sarcastic.

0 Replies

@layman,

Speakin of lettin it roll, and all....

0 Replies

@Tuna,

Tuna wrote:

One or many. That's the choice.

That aint even the question. This aint no matter of quantity.

New "choice."
1. One beautiful HOT innocent fine upstanding American Babe, or
2. 100 sneering, insolent, throat-cutting, deranged ISIS butchers.

What's it gunna be? One, or many?

0 Replies

Been there, done that . . . more than a decade ago . . .

1 Reply

@Tuna,

I go for the long shot.

I wait for the runaway car to get to the switch. When the front of the trolley is past, I throw the switch thus causing the rear wheels to follow the side track de-railing the trolley and save all the people on the tracks.

0 Replies

In general surveys around 90% of respondents choose to kill the one and save the five, but a survey conducted among professional philosophers showed 68% would kill the one, 8% would not switch, and the remaining 24% had another view or could not answer. I'm with the 24%.

3 Replies

@Tes yeux noirs,

Tes yeux noirs wrote:

In general surveys around 90% of respondents choose to kill the one and save the five, but a survey conducted among professional philosophers showed 68% would kill the one, 8% would not switch, and the remaining 24% had another view or could not answer. I'm with the 24%.

Me too. There is no right answer, of course. It's just a key to seeing something about yourself, right?

0 Replies

@Setanta,

Setanta wrote:

Been there, done that . . . more than a decade ago . . .

I expected so. Open the windows. Let the breeze in.

1 Reply

@Tes yeux noirs,

I go with leadfoot.

1 Reply

@cicerone imposter,

I'm with CI

0 Replies

@Tes yeux noirs,

This "problem" seems easy, a priori. Say, for example, 5 convicted killers had a simultaneous date with old sparky, and you could, at the last minute, send the current to some guy eagerly watchin in the front row. Who ya gunna call?

Just ask yourself: How come 5 people are tied to the track. Obvious, aint it? Because they DESERVED it.

If, for some damn reason, they tied themselves to the tracks, say, for example, because they were tryin to stop the shipment of whale meat, or some ****, then give em what they want. Don't mess up some poor innocent bystander, ya know?

1 Reply

@Tuna,

You're equating yourself with a breath of fresh air . . . Ah-hahahahahahahahahahaha . . . ya can't beat this place for free entertainment.

1 Reply

@layman,

Quote:

This "problem" seems easy, a priori. Say, for example, 5 convicted killers had a simultaneous date with old sparky, and you could, at the last minute, send the current to some guy eagerly watchin in the front row. Who ya gunna call?

I am guessing you are being ironic - I would refuse to take part in a capital punishment process, which is not available in the jurisdiction in which I am a citizen anyhow, and deliberately killing a bystander would be murder.

1 Reply

@Tes yeux noirs,

Quote:

I would refuse to take part in a capital punishment process, which is not available in the jurisdiction in which I am a citizen anyhow, and deliberately killing a bystander would be murder.

Well, Tes, sometimes ya gotta choose between the lesser of two "evils," eh? The question presupposes that you are in a position to make a choice.

You can't evade the issue by refusing to participate. Remember what Kierkegaard said, eh?: Not to decide is to decide.

If you do nothing, you have "decided," by your inaction, to let the 5 die.

0 Replies

Nobody's going to "die". This is a hypothetical situation. A psych test. A moral conundrum. Which would I save, one cute kitty or a bucket of 100 ugly slugs? It doesn't matter what I answer. If anything, it's a test of how moral the subject wishes to think themselves to be.

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The trolley problem

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