The Trolley Problem

Debate classic for philosophy Wednesday.

Say you have a trolley on a track to kill 10 people, but you can redirect it in a way that causes it to kill only one. Would you redirect it?

Main arguments are usually:
CONS: Become personally responsible for somebody's death.
PROS: Save 10 lives.

Most people are pro but there are some very interesting neg arguments too.

admin: CONS: Become personally responsible for somebody's death.

I think that you'd still be "personally responsible" for the 10 people if you didn't redirect the track because you were able to prevent their deaths but you didn't. This argument isn't a particularly convincing one - at least not to me.

PROS: Save 10 lives.

This is the obviously more logical argument which is why I, along with most people as you correctly state, agree with the affirmative case on this issue.

Famousdebater: I'm not sure that such a calculus is entirely ethical. Maybe by not posting this post I prevent a death - you don't know moral outcomes.

Would it be any different if that one person was your lover? A close relative? Your best friend?
Would that affect the decision at all?

admin: Depends who's really on the track. If there's ten murderers versus a baby, forget the ten lives.

admin: Would it be any different if that one person was your lover? A close relative? Your best friend?
Would that affect the decision at all?

Probably. But that wasn't the question that you asked. I assumed that the 10 and the 1 would all be people that I didn't know.