RE: #1 Thought experiment - "The Trolley Problem"
May 19, 2016 at 9:23 am
(This post was last modified: May 19, 2016 at 9:34 am by Neo-Scholastic.)
Just to throw other wrinkles into the thought problem.
1) It assumes that there are no consequences for the person making the choice. Pushing the fat man onto tracks could result in the chooser being jailed or executed, his or her family left destitute, etc. Not doing so, could leave the chooser traumatised to madness for the rest of his or her life, also with associated consequences.
2) The problem with evaluating moral choices by their consequences is that there is no end point to the effects. Time keeps pushing forward. One of the spared trolley riders could be a serial killer. The family member of the serial-killer's victim, in response to his loss, could be a life of self-less civil service and reforms that save thousands. You cannot easily say action A was the wrong because it resulted in B. While B may be an obvious and immediate harm, the long term effects of B may be far-reaching and beneficial.
1) It assumes that there are no consequences for the person making the choice. Pushing the fat man onto tracks could result in the chooser being jailed or executed, his or her family left destitute, etc. Not doing so, could leave the chooser traumatised to madness for the rest of his or her life, also with associated consequences.
2) The problem with evaluating moral choices by their consequences is that there is no end point to the effects. Time keeps pushing forward. One of the spared trolley riders could be a serial killer. The family member of the serial-killer's victim, in response to his loss, could be a life of self-less civil service and reforms that save thousands. You cannot easily say action A was the wrong because it resulted in B. While B may be an obvious and immediate harm, the long term effects of B may be far-reaching and beneficial.
