The trolley and the psychopath

[Vullkan]

Stop me if you’ve heard this one. A trolley carrying five school children is headed for a cliff. You happen to be standing at the switch, and you could save their lives by diverting the trolley to another track. But there he is – an innocent fat man, picking daisies on that second track, oblivious to the rolling thunder (potentially) hurtling his way. Divert the trolley, and you save the kids and kill a person. Do nothing, and you have killed no one but five children are dead. Which is the greater moral good?

This kind of thought experiment is known as a sacrificial dilemma,Philshutterstock_159768710osophically, the sacrificial dilemma has a narrow purpose. Your choice supposedly illuminates whether you fall into one of two camps on moral reasoning: choose to hypothetically end a life to save a few more, and yours is described as utilitarian judgment. Reject it, and you are said to be making non-utilitarian (“deontological”) judgments. Roughly translated, the utilitarian is concerned primarily with outcomes, while the deontologist has a morally absolute point of view that holds that you couldn’t even tell a lie to save someone’s life, because it’s wrong to tell a lie (Kant being the most extreme member of this camp).

So what would you do if it were you save the children and kill the man or let the children die and save the man.

What if it was the oposite what if was the man on the trolley and the children on the track.

Explain.

[Vullkan]

so what are you a utilitarian or deontologist

[zarzian]

Good question, give me a couple years to think about it.

[Vullkan]

Good question, give me a couple years to think about it.

I can wait.

[Atvend]

Save the children obviously, whatever the case. More potential in them, they can grow up and become something valuable to society. The fat man has already exhausted most of his potential.

[Vullkan]

Save the children obviously, whatever the case. More potential in them, they can grow up and become something valuable to society. The fat man has already exhausted most of his potential.

what if it was the children on the track and the man on the trolley would you act the same

[Atvend]

what if it was the children on the track and the man on the trolley would you act the same

Yes

[BeerBaron]

Yell move fatass, flip switch, if he dies wtvr he was warned

[Vullkan]

Yell move fatass, flip switch, if he dies wtvr he was warned

what if it were five children on the trolley and five children on the track what would you do would you let children die or kill to save them.

What if that fat man was someone you know .

[Vullkan]

if you killed the man you would be put in prison are you willing to sacrifice your liberty for the sake of saving others and taking a life.