Posts from ‘April, 2012’

Question: Trolley Problem Answer: Gavin Paul ’15 Can taking a life ever be morally permissible? I would argue that it is not only permissible, but even necessary if that one life can save five other equally valuable lives. I think the clearest way to come to a conclusion about how to handle the runaway trolley [...]

Question: Trolley Problem Answer: Luke Schroeder ’13 I would suggest that saving five lives is morally superior to saving one. However, when we perform the act of saving, the immediate means by which we act have moral importance. The means by which we decide and act in the world are vital for evaluating the trolley [...]

Question: Trolley Problem Answer: Ben Hartnett ’14 If ever any of us were to encounter a case in which five workers were about to be killed by a trolley car, and we had the power to save them from this fate by diverting the car, would we act? I believe that for almost every individual [...]

Trolley Problem A runaway trolley car is bearing down on five workers who have no room to get off the tracks and will be killed if the car hits them. Is it morally permissible—or even obligatory—for you to flip a switch that will divert the trolley onto another track, even though the car will then [...]