Moral Quandaries: The Trolley Problem

There are 5 people who have been tied to a railroad track by a nefarious villain and who are about to be run over by an out-of-control trolley car hurtling towards them. You are standing near a switch that will divert the trolley onto another track, saving those peoples' lives. Unfortunately, you see that there is another person tied to the other track who would also be killed by the trolley if you change its course. What do you do? Do you divert the trolley, resulting in the death of that one person but saving five lives? Or do you do nothing and allow the five captives to die? Assume there is no time for you free those people or get help.

The trolley problem is a classic dilemma in moral philosophy. First put forth by Philippa Foot, this interesting problem (and variations on it) has been debated for decades. It shows how difficult it is to find an ethical principle that can satisfy us in every situation. While the trolley situation admittedly is extremely unlikely to happen in real life, there are many real situations where similar ethical questions come into play, including disaster triage, disease quarantine, or war.

Join the Syracuse Philosophy Meetup as we discuss the trolley problem, as well as its variations and applications. We'll ask the following questions:

• What would you do in that situation?
• What is your justification for your decision?
• What ethical rules should we follow?
• Is morality objective?
• How does this quandary apply to real life situations?

There is no reading for this week, but this wikihow article should stimulate your thinking: https://www.wikihow.com/Moral-Dilemma-Questions