Anonymous
Post 03/28/2025 14:23     Subject: Trolley Problem.
Anonymous wrote:I think it's pretty clear that all but the incredibly weak-willed or self-deluded recognize that we *should* pull the lever. Refusal to act is an act in and of itself. (Whether we actually could is a different story.) What makes the trolley problem interesting are the endless variations, such as:

- What is the one person is a baby, or a child?
- What if you are related to the one person?
- What if the five people are white collar criminals?
- What if the 5 people are violent criminals?
- What if the 5 people are 4 child molesters, and one child?
- What if the 5 people are out of your line of sight and hearing, but the one person is 10 feet from you?

And so on.


Good considerations.

Since this a religious forum and I am religious, I would likely choose not to judge people by such criteria. All are beloved by God. I would pull the lever to spare five souls if possible. However rationale is not purely utilitarian but also religiously based.
Anonymous
Post 03/28/2025 14:09     Subject: Trolley Problem.
I think it's pretty clear that all but the incredibly weak-willed or self-deluded recognize that we *should* pull the lever. Refusal to act is an act in and of itself. (Whether we actually could is a different story.) What makes the trolley problem interesting are the endless variations, such as:

- What is the one person is a baby, or a child?
- What if you are related to the one person?
- What if the five people are white collar criminals?
- What if the 5 people are violent criminals?
- What if the 5 people are 4 child molesters, and one child?
- What if the 5 people are out of your line of sight and hearing, but the one person is 10 feet from you?

And so on.
Anonymous
Post 03/28/2025 14:03     Subject: Trolley Problem.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:A runaway trolley is speeding down the tracks. If you do nothing, it will kill five workers. You the option to pull a lever, diverting the trolley onto another track where it will kill one person instead. Do you pull the lever ?
Why or why not ?

I turn around and walk away. I am not responsible for the 5 people's death. If I pull the lever, I am responsible for causing a person's death. I could live with the choice to do nothing and comfort myself by saying there was nothing I could do. I couldn't live with pulling the lever.


You absolutely are responsible for killing the 5 people.

In the immortal words of Neal Peart,

If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice . . . I will choose a path that's clear, I will choose Freewill.

- "Freewill" by Rush
Anonymous
Post 03/28/2025 14:03     Subject: Trolley Problem.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:A runaway trolley is speeding down the tracks. If you do nothing, it will kill five workers. You the option to pull a lever, diverting the trolley onto another track where it will kill one person instead. Do you pull the lever ?
Why or why not ?


No.
If I pull the lever I would be actively killing an innocent person.


Sounds like you’re religious, right?


What does that answer have to do with religion?


It has less to do with religion than idiocy. Or cowardice.


What makes you say that?
Anonymous
Post 03/28/2025 13:59     Subject: Trolley Problem.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:A runaway trolley is speeding down the tracks. If you do nothing, it will kill five workers. You the option to pull a lever, diverting the trolley onto another track where it will kill one person instead. Do you pull the lever ?
Why or why not ?


No.
If I pull the lever I would be actively killing an innocent person.


Sounds like you’re religious, right?


What does that answer have to do with religion?


It has less to do with religion than idiocy. Or cowardice.
Anonymous
Post 03/28/2025 13:50     Subject: Trolley Problem.
Anonymous wrote:Do I know the 1 person?


No
Anonymous
Post 03/28/2025 13:43     Subject: Trolley Problem.
Anonymous wrote:Do I know the 1 person?


Yes, it’s your Australian friend and colleague Henry, who has gotten one of his hideous cowboy boots stuck in the train tracks.
Anonymous
Post 03/28/2025 13:40     Subject: Trolley Problem.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:A runaway trolley is speeding down the tracks. If you do nothing, it will kill five workers. You the option to pull a lever, diverting the trolley onto another track where it will kill one person instead. Do you pull the lever ?
Why or why not ?

I turn around and walk away. I am not responsible for the 5 people's death. If I pull the lever, I am responsible for causing a person's death. I could live with the choice to do nothing and comfort myself by saying there was nothing I could do. I couldn't live with pulling the lever.


“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men [sic] to do nothing" Edmund Burke

I'm neither good nor bad. If I could switch places with hem, I would. Since I can't, I have to find a way to live with myself. Doing nothing makes that possible.
Anonymous
Post 03/28/2025 13:37     Subject: Trolley Problem.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:A runaway trolley is speeding down the tracks. If you do nothing, it will kill five workers. You the option to pull a lever, diverting the trolley onto another track where it will kill one person instead. Do you pull the lever ?
Why or why not ?

I turn around and walk away. I am not responsible for the 5 people's death. If I pull the lever, I am responsible for causing a person's death. I could live with the choice to do nothing and comfort myself by saying there was nothing I could do. I couldn't live with pulling the lever.


“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men [sic] to do nothing" Edmund Burke
Anonymous
Post 03/28/2025 13:32     Subject: Trolley Problem.
Do I know the 1 person?
Anonymous
Post 03/28/2025 13:23     Subject: Trolley Problem.
Anonymous wrote:A runaway trolley is speeding down the tracks. If you do nothing, it will kill five workers. You the option to pull a lever, diverting the trolley onto another track where it will kill one person instead. Do you pull the lever ?
Why or why not ?

I turn around and walk away. I am not responsible for the 5 people's death. If I pull the lever, I am responsible for causing a person's death. I could live with the choice to do nothing and comfort myself by saying there was nothing I could do. I couldn't live with pulling the lever.
Anonymous
Post 03/28/2025 13:20     Subject: Trolley Problem.
The sitcom "The Good Place" had this as a plot point. Worth watching. Real life is always messier than hypothetical.

Be prepared to make quick decisions. Know your own values in advance.
Anonymous
Post 03/28/2025 13:08     Subject: Trolley Problem.
Anonymous wrote:A runaway trolley is speeding down the tracks. If you do nothing, it will kill five workers. You the option to pull a lever, diverting the trolley onto another track where it will kill one person instead. Do you pull the lever ?
Why or why not ?


I would quickly pray for wisdom to take the best decision.

I would most likely pull the lever whether or not the one person was like me in important ways since it is hard to justify causing death of 5 people
Anonymous
Post 03/28/2025 13:06     Subject: Trolley Problem.
Anonymous wrote:Why is this under religion? It’s a philosophy Q.



DP - normative ethics which has many overlaps with religion as it explores what is good and what is true via different lens
Utilitarian
Virtue ethics
Personal Duty ethics
Etc

Anonymous
Post 03/28/2025 11:51     Subject: Trolley Problem.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:A runaway trolley is speeding down the tracks. If you do nothing, it will kill five workers. You the option to pull a lever, diverting the trolley onto another track where it will kill one person instead. Do you pull the lever ?
Why or why not ?


No.
If I pull the lever I would be actively killing an innocent person.


Sounds like you’re religious, right?


No I am not .