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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]There isn't a single answer to this question. The answer you give reveals other things about you. How you think about it reveals things about you.

For example, a lot of people see this as a numbers problem. Because you are stuck with the trolley decision, you will be complicit in 5 deaths or 1 death. Many people believe that it is "better" to be complicit in fewer deaths overall, and so they choose the lever.

Other people see this as a more values problem. If the 1 death is a convicted molester, many people would find it easier to pull the lever than they would if the 1 death was a baby. If the 5 deaths are "innocents" in some way while the 1 death is a "criminal", people approaching the trolley decision from a values perspective would say that it is "better" to intentionally kill one criminal than to save a criminal through inaction and end 5 innocent lives.

There are also a number of conversations about the fallacy of the trolley problem in the first place. Almost no decisions in life are this cut-and-dry or this pressured. I have heard described the 3rd option called "untie the 5 people on the tracks and try to save them" as well as a variation of that one in which the saved people hold the trolley back with their bare hands.

It is supposed to generate conversation, and I assume it was posted here because it's about ethics and values and there's no "philosophy" forum other than this one.[/quote]

Agree. As stated upthread, there is no solution, no “right” answer. It’s a thought experiment.  The Good Place episode is hilarious, BTW.

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