Question 1

Do you think it is morally acceptable to turn the trolley and save five lives while one dies? If you answer no, why not? If you answer yes, do you think it is acceptable for the surgeon to kill one to save five?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Do you think it is morally acceptable...

Question 2

Does it matter that the driver has to take action to turn the trolley and actively choose to kill the one worker on the alternative track? If the driver allows the trolley to go straight, the five workers are killed because of the driver's passive inaction, not because of the driver's active choice to kill. Or does this make no difference? Would it make a moral difference if the driver refused to choose, perhaps by jumping out of the trolley before it struck the workers?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Does it matter that the driver has...

Question 3

What is your opinion of the surgeon case? May the surgeon kill one patient to save five lives? Why? What is the basis for your opinion? What reasons might someone have for holding the opposite opinion?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What is your opinion of the surgeon...

Question 4

Thomson does not believe that the cases she describes are likely to arise. Why then does she discuss them? Of what value are such imaginary cases?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Thomson does not believe that the cases...

Question 5

Consider your response to the trolley problem. Would you change tracks? Now consider that it is not one worker who would die but a loved one. Would that change your response? And if it does change your response, do you think this is justified?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Consider your response to the trolley problem....

Quiz 54: The Trolley Problem Judith Jarvis Thomson

Do you think it is morally acceptable to turn the trolley and save five lives while one dies? If you answer no, why not? If you answer yes, do you think it is acceptable for the surgeon to kill one to save five?

What is your opinion of the surgeon case? May the surgeon kill one patient to save five lives? Why? What is the basis for your opinion? What reasons might someone have for holding the opposite opinion?

Thomson does not believe that the cases she describes are likely to arise. Why then does she discuss them? Of what value are such imaginary cases?

Consider your response to the trolley problem. Would you change tracks? Now consider that it is not one worker who would die but a loved one. Would that change your response? And if it does change your response, do you think this is justified?