Trolley Problem 2:
In this situation it is your choice to either pull the lever to the right or left in efforts to spare lives. Which way would you pull the lever?
Many people say to pull it so that the one individual is ultimately killed. The question then comes, is their life not as valuable as the others because it's one person versus five?
Now let's change the situation a little, say that all of the individuals on the tracks were newborn babies. YES, now you're beginning to see my point! It doesn't matter who you pull the switch for it's wrong on all levels because you are depriving them of their rights that were given to them by nature and the ones that were created, human rights.
The coexisting of both is essential in today's society because they equally create the foundation in which we ALL stand on.
The trolley car is a classic ethical dilemma that I love arguing. Another variant is this:
ReplyDeleteThere's 5 people tied to the track, no switch, but a fat man that you can push onto the track to stop the train. This has the same result, but requires you to physically touch the person you're (quintessentially) murdering.
Yet another example is this: 3 of the 5 on track 1 are criminals who swear to reform and fight crime for the rest of their lives. The 4th and 5th on track 1 and the 1 on track 2 both promise to murder the families of the person who tied them to the track. Who do you kill?
Another take is this: Why do you need to choose? Do you have any moral obligation to the switch? If you walk away, what role did you play in any of the harm? This is the "Ommission does not imply obligation." For example, I'm not going out of my way to cure cancer, but that doesn't make cancer my fault, nor my responsibility.
There are so many variations and so many other dilemmas to ponder. Personally, I ascribe to the last one mentioned. It is not my responsibility if I had no part in creating the harm, though I can use my power to the best of my ability to create a beneficial situation. Furthermore, my moral integrity should be based on my intentions and my knowledge of the circumstances.