If I 100% knew that killing one person would save 5, yes. The first experiment, where you flip a switch is clearer, and easier not only because of the switch, but because it lacks ambiguity. You flip a switch, the train changes tracks. No what ifs.
The problem I've always had with the second is this assumption that a fat guy would stop a train. I know, I know, its a thought experiment. But I simply cannot imagine how I would know the fat guy stops the train, so I have a hard time when I.try and actually imagine myself in the situation. I've never seen a human body stop.a train, even a huge one, have you? I think I also detect some issue with a fat person being worth less because they are fat.
But in scenario 1, where you flip a switch, yes I'm sure I would because even though I'm killing a person, I'm certain that their death actually prevents 5 others. In scenario 2, that is not the case. I always feel like the train will chop up the fat guy and go on to kill the 5 as well. The sentence " and you know his body will stop the train" is meaningless to me, because I know no such thing, whereas I know how train switches work.
The problem I've always had with the second is this assumption that a fat guy would stop a train. I know, I know, its a thought experiment. But I simply cannot imagine how I would know the fat guy stops the train, so I have a hard time when I.try and actually imagine myself in the situation. I've never seen a human body stop.a train, even a huge one, have you? I think I also detect some issue with a fat person being worth less because they are fat.
But in scenario 1, where you flip a switch, yes I'm sure I would because even though I'm killing a person, I'm certain that their death actually prevents 5 others. In scenario 2, that is not the case. I always feel like the train will chop up the fat guy and go on to kill the 5 as well. The sentence " and you know his body will stop the train" is meaningless to me, because I know no such thing, whereas I know how train switches work.
“Eternity is a terrible thought. I mean, where's it going to end?”
― Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
― Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
