(January 24, 2018 at 3:03 pm)RoadRunner79 Wrote: Wow.... this is about the best version of the problem, that I have seen. I think someone mentioned, that in a common form of the dilemma, one is pushing some fat guy onto the tracks. And at this point, I was fairly confident in my answer... No you can't do that. Changing it to a switch somehow makes it different. But why? The addition of the similar scenario of the doctor and the organ transplants highlights the issue well. Here, I think it is natural to have more difficulty.
I'm glad it challenged you. It really challenged me too. That was the intent. On a side note, the OP links to a paper where a professional philosopher puts the two problems side by side and examines differences. I have only breezed over it-- I plan on finishing it tonight though. Just if you were interested.
Quote:Also I had seen a couple of answers that where extreme in concrete (literal) thinking. You need to work on your abstract though and thinking through the ideas.
I think a lot of folks were compelled to solve it via practical solutions instead of "laying themselves before the problem." It's really how most people approach problems by default. I'm delighted to see that you picked up on the heart of the issue though.
Quote: However for a very real world situation.... terrorist have hijacked an airplane, and are redirecting the airplane towards a large city/population group.
Plenty of real-world parallels.
