A runaway trolley car is hurtling down a track. In its path are five people who will definitely be killed unless you, a bystander, flip a switch which will divert it on to another track, where it will kill one person. Should you flip the switch?
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Friday, August 29, 2008
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12 comments:
yes
yep.
Flip it.
More importantly, consider this thought experiment. Hmm...
Kobashi Maru time, is it? Everything else being equal, yes, the lives of the many outweigh the lives of the few, or the one.
Are any of these six zombies?
Personally, I've never been in San Francisco.
But what if, for the five people, it is "their time to go"? Wouldn't you be defying the will of God?
< / tongue in cheek >
Hmm. That's a really interesting one, Kenny. I'll have to think about that one.
More seriously (or not, depending on your perspective), there is actually a whole class of complicated thought experiments based on this one. The sub-field of ethics dealing with these thought experiments is sometimes called (I'm not joking) 'trolleyology'. This is not, in my opinion, nearly as much fun as Gettierology (again, I'm not joking, that's really what it's called), the study of whether or not I know that Jones owns a Ford. Gotta love philosophers!
Are any of them named Lady Elaine Fairchilde or Henrietta Pussycat?
This reminds me of the question my oldest daughter asked me one time...if Courage (baby sister) and I were both drowning, and you could only save one of us, which one would you choose to save'? My answer; I would not choose; somehow, I would figure out how to save both of you. Oh! The trials of being Supermom!
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