The Trolley Problem

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Category:

Education

Tags:

• The
• Trolley
• Problem
• Decision
• Making
• PBS

[pdonovansouthie]

It's the same. **Exactly** the same...It's just more personal because a)You are touching the person, not a lever and b)The man above is not below, so it seems more 'forced' pushing him down to harms way. But the end result is what the professor says. It's the same. I racked my brain for hours, and why I put this up on youtube. He is absolutely right. I disagreed with him vehemently at first, but came to the same conclusion. They are the same....

[penguindiverz]

if the mans really that fat to stop a train, I wouldn't be able to push him lol

[IntellectualInquiry]

Another thing to consider is what if you know that the 4 men are apart of a terrorist organization and what if the one man is Gandhi? How does this alter your decision? We can't just think of this in terms of numbers because human judgement has to come into play.

Also, the trolly problem assumes you can only do one action, why not warn the people to get out of the way? There is never just one option when circumstances like this are real.

[RUBENSolol]

@pdonovansouthie The professor doesn't say which of your options is "right" or "wrong" in that situation. And there is a fundamental difference you failed to notice. In the second case, you are actually USING the second person to save the four other. His death, therefore, is not an accident, as the death of the one worker in the first case might be considered, but it is a murder.

[PasatibePimpin]

@pdonovansouthie I disagree that the SITUATIONS are exactly the same. The OUTCOMES are of course the same, but in scenario 1, you don't know how that one man might feel. You can think, "Well if he knew, perhaps he would be willing to make the sacrifice," and be less afraid of taking his life completely against his will. In the scenario 2, you know the man does not wish to make the sacrifice. You would be wrenching life from him, not only without his approval, but blatantly AGAINST his wishes.

[POPCANA]

@IntellectualInquiry I think the point of this vid was the question of what really is/isn't an immoral act. The greatest way to start this debate is to use the dreaded hypothetical. if you DID have just one option as in the real world (which seems pretty reasonable to me for a scenario to happen NOT like this but with just one limited option in whatever scenerio)

[aba2185]

@Divinenite yeah but its like murder if you push him.

the other situation your is more about saving a life instead of creating death.

[igotkiwi]

@Divinenite Moreover, the two scenarios differ in that in the first, you only divert the fatal sequence whereas in the second, you initiate a new one (passive vs active killing). Philosophers like Philipa Foot argued that while the first is sometimes permissible, the latter never is.Still,I feel most answers are built on psychosocial constructs: I couldn't kill a healthy man to harvest his organs to save 3 sick patients, but I would ride over one tied to the only road 3 leading to 3 drowning men

[igotkiwi]

@Divinenite The video shows only an utilitarian approach to the Trolley Problem. In this scope, of course it makes no sense to pull the lever, but refuse to push the fat man since the consequentialists are the same and this is all that matters in consequentialists theories (e.g., utilitarianism). On the other hand many ethicists reject utilitarianism on such grounds, since it could justify torturing a minority if it would please the majority, for example.

Psychological constructs : doctors

[RandomMixoo7]

if u pull the lever it would be murder if u push that fat dude u murder if u do nothin on both u do not murder. evan tho it's ur choice the fat dude and the lonly dude might be important. if u do nothing u r not envolved! Why dont u shout for them 2 move!

[dragonridley]

Where could you possibly fins a man fat enough to stop a trolley?

[dpjaexp]

The elephant in the room: trolleys save lives, keep our downtowns viable, connect us to one another, and don't require wars based on lies for oil, killing millions. The fat cats we should be pushing off the proverbial bridges onto the tracks are Big Oil, Big Auto, and their dirty lobbyists who've inhibited us from enjoying modern, state-of-the-art electric streetcar, interurban, subway and high-speed intercity rail infrastructure worthy of a civilized nation of 300,000,000 people.