Question

Imagine you're watching a runaway trolley barreling down the tracks straight towards five workers who can next to a switch track but just one what do you do you sacrifice one person to save five this is the trolley problem aversion of an ethical dilemma that fellow devised in 1967 forces to choose when there are no good choices or stick to a world code in one survey and other studies including a virtual reality simulation of the dilemma have found silver results which decision is the lies as well being for the greatest outcome until you are standing on a bridge over the track as the runa way for their second track but there is a very large man on the bridge next deal with stop the trolley leaving the five the decision is exactly the same those one life but in this case only about 10% of people say that it's okay to throw the man onto the tracks collateral Damage this intersection between ethics and psychology is what so interesting about the trolley problem the dilemma and its many variations reveal that what we think is right or wrong depends on factors other than a logical weighing of the proof for example men are more likely than women to say it's okay to push the man over the bridge so our people who are doing the phone experiment and in one virtual reality study more willing to researchers have studied the classic scenarios activate areas of the brain conscious Dec ision in an area of the brain associated with processing internal to killing another person feel conflicted because we know it's still The Logical Choice has been criticized by some philosophers and psychologists they argue that it doesn't reveal anything because it's premise is so unrealistic that study participants in seriously new technology is making this kind of ethical analysis for example driverless cars choices meanwhile researching autonomous military drones that could wind up making decisions of whether they'll risk civilian Casualties to it to decide the human life and judge the greater good so researchers who study autonomous systems vibrating with philosophers to address the complex which goes to show that even hypothetical limits can wind up on a collision course with the real world.

Write a 500-word essay of your justification and relate the answers to your life experiences

Answer 1

The Trolley Problem is an ethical dilemma that challenges simplistic utilitarian calculations of the greatest good for the greatest number by introducing complexities such as emotional responses, competing duties, and practical considerations. In reality, moral decisions are nuanced and context-dependent, as evidenced through both theoretical and personal experiences.

Step-by-step explanation:

The Trolley Problem and Moral Decision-Making

The Trolley Problem is a well-known ethical dilemma used to explore the complexities of moral decision-making. It involves a runaway trolley headed towards five unsuspecting workers on the tracks. You, standing by a lever, have the power to divert the trolley to a side track, where it would kill one worker instead of five. From a strictly utilitarian perspective, the choice seems obvious: sacrifice one to save many. This pure number-based analysis aligns with John Stuart Mill's philosophy that maximizing overall happiness is the ultimate moral goal.

However, this dilemma becomes much more complex once we consider the emotional and psychological layers involved in actively causing harm versus allowing harm to occur. Ethical pluralism, as proposed by theorists like Sir William David Ross, suggests that no single moral principle can account for the intricacies of such a situation. This approach explores the idea of competing duties, where the moral action is not always clear cut and requires a careful balancing of different moral principles.

Furthermore, neuroethics studies propose that our moral decisions are influenced by both innate moral faculties and cultural values. Nonetheless, in practice, ethical dilemmas are rarely encountered with such a straightforward choice. For instance, professional settings, like clinical healthcare, often involve high-stake decisions where the practitioner must navigate not only the life-and-death consequences but also the personal beliefs and wishes of their patients.

Reflection on Personal Experience

In my own life, I have been faced with difficult choices where I had to balance competing interests and values. While I have never been in a situation as extreme as the Trolley Problem, there have been times where decisions could not simply be made by following a rule or a single moral principle. Take moments in teamwork or family life where you must choose between honesty and protecting someone's feelings, or between personal gain and fairness to others. These experiences underscore the complexity of ethical decision-making and support the notion that moral judgments cannot be reduced to a rigid formula but rather involve a nuanced and contextual deliberation.