Critical Thinking and the Trolley Problem

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The Trolley Problem The Trolley Problem is set up in two parts. The first part puts the reader in the passive position to choose between flipping a switch that would cause one person to die to save five other people and doing nothing which would allow the five to die while the one would live. The second part puts the reader in a much more personal and active position in that the reader has to choose once again to do nothing and let five people die or deliberately push another person on to the tracks killing them to save the five. This is quite a dilemma for most people. To look at the ease of pulling a leaver as to making a conscience decision to end some one’s life is the moral problem in question. I will use Kant’s deontological views versus the Utilitarian teleological views to determine my own response to these hypothetical situations. “A basic principle of ethics Kant’s imperative: always act in such a way that you could way that you could will that your act should be a universal law.”(Waller, 2011 p.74) Each action we take must be considered whether it would be ok if everyone did it before the action is taken. With that in mind, let’s look at each scenario as my decision. Could I flip the switch? Would I want the switch flipped if I were on the track? If I were on the track with the five I would want someone to divert the trolley. If I were on the track as the one, I would be thankful that the train was going the other direction and would not want anyone to change the Trolleys direction. Should the flipping of the switch in time of peril become the law for everyone to use? The fact that there is one that would not want the switch flipped is enough to say we would not want it to be law for the switch to be flipped. Therefore In the first case Kantian’s would not flip the switch. In the second case the act is much more morally

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