The Trolley Problem

[Khayr]

A trolley is running out of control down a track. In its path are five people who have been tied to the track by a mad man. Fortunately, you could flip a switch, which will lead the trolley down a different track to safety. Unfortunately, there is a single person tied to that track. Should you flip the switch or do nothing?

[Alpha Blondy]

i love these sorts of cryptic riddles. awesome stuff Khayr.

 

check this. one of my own riddles.

 

a tiger, a sheep, and some leaves are on a boat. you must transport all of them together. bal ta ka waraam, y'all?

[Safferz]

Alpha, how is Khayr's post a cryptic riddle? It's a pretty straightforward scenario.

 

I think the only ethical answer is to flip the switch... regardless, someone will be killed, and it seems unconscionable to me to allow the train to keep moving towards five people. Five killed, or one? I would choose the latter.

[Tallaabo]

Apophis;986823 wrote:

I would do nothing. Because otherwise you are committing murder.

That is my answer too.

[Khayr]

You know "Doing Nothing" is a

Decision. So if you do nothing in this case, you will have killed

5 people.

 

Sounds to me that you would be held accountable because your decision led to the death of 5 people. Could you live with that decision?

[Tallaabo]

Khayr;986845 wrote:

You know "Doing Nothing" is a

Decision. So if you do nothing in this case, you will have killed

5 people.

 

Sounds to me that you would be held accountable because your decision led to the death of 5 people. Could you live with that decision?

Yes it is a conscious decision. It is the decision to let nature take its course. Interfering with such events would make one decide the life and death of others. I would be wrong to kill a man to safe others so I would let all face their fate. It is like a lottery.

[guleed_ali]

Khayr;986778 wrote:

A trolley is running out of control down a track. In its path are five people who have been tied to the track by a mad man. Fortunately, you could flip a switch,

which will lead the trolley down a different track to safety

. Unfortunately, there is a single person tied to that track. Should you flip the switch or do nothing?

Doesn't really matter if the one person is tied then does it? If the trolley stops safely it won't harm the one person that's tied up....

 

Why's everyone so jumpy on these forums, read between the lines folks before getting into philosophical arguments about hypotheticals.

[Khayr]

G.A. saxib, reread the scenario again.

 

Apo,

 

By you rational, you would support the proactive state terrorism in the name of protecting national interest.

 

There is no morality in putting your own self interests first. The "self" being the principlem that is being adhered to instead of doing

what is right.

 

Tallabo,

 

Not interefering is a decision that you make and we are accountable

for All of your decisions. In this case, you would co-sign on the death of five "innocent" people.

[guleed_ali]

Khayr;986899 wrote:

G.A. saxib, reread the scenario again.

 

Apo,

 

By you rational, you would support the proactive state terrorism in the name of protecting national interest.

 

There is no morality in putting your own self interests first. The "self" being the principlem that is being adhered to instead of doing

what is right.

 

Tallabo,

 

Not interefering is a decision that you make and we are accountable

for All of your decisions. In this case, you would co-sign on the death of five "innocent" people.

 

More like you need to rewrite the question! The trolley can go down the other track safely while there's a person tied to the end of the track, i.e the trolley stops before it reaches said person. Remove the word safely and we're good. Cause it's kind of hard to reach a place safely when you just squashed a dude who's tied up....

[Alpha Blondy]

this question is tricky, ya?

[guleed_ali]

Khayr;986845 wrote:

You know "Doing Nothing" is a

Decision. So if you do nothing in this case,

you will have killed

5 people.

 

Sounds to me that you would be held accountable because your decision led to the death of 5 people. Could you live with that decision?

So is Apophis the mad man.... I don't get it I thought they were tied to the track by a mad man. This is not making any sense....

[Bluelicious]

Death is inevitable in this scenario. Both sides someone is gonna die so I would do nothing. One persons dead is not less important then the death of 5 people and vice versa.

 

What if the train stopped after hitting the first person. Wouldn't that mean 1 person died and 5 are saved. The same thing would apply if the switch was pulled and the single person died again 5 would be saved.

[Khayr]

Apo,

 

Self-interest is the root of all our motivations and is the motive of

vices.

 

Apo,

 

What is the 5 people were people you knew e.g. family and the one person - you didn't know?

Would you still do nothing?

 

Is Apo the mad man? Depends on his decision

[Khayr]

Saff,

 

Your answer came easy to you.

If I told you that those 5 people

were all mothers and that one person on the other track was a single male - would you answer differently?

 

Blue,

 

You have to make a choice and

death is inevitable for everyone on the two tracks - depending on the choice that you (the decision maker) makes.

[Safferz]

Khayr;986928 wrote:

Saff,

 

Your answer came easy to you.

If I told you that those 5 people

were all mothers and that one person on the other track was a single male - would you answer differently?

Why would that change my answer? I said I'd save the five by switching the trolley to the other track with one person on it. I don't really care who they are, saving as many people as possible would be my priority. I agree with your earlier statement that choosing not to act is an action in itself, with the consequences of allowing five people to be killed.

 

I was curious about whether there are legal consequences for not doing anything, so I asked my brother and another law student I know, and both said neither option is considered murder but a trolley driver can be held liable in civil action for the wrongful death of five lol. Killing one would be considered negligence at most, and even then the action would be against the trolley company, not the driver.