Updated case 2: Ask the person tied to the track what they would do if our situations were reversed. Do that. My reasoning is that the people on the track are much more affected by the decision than the people off of the track, and therefore my utility is probably maximized by letting them maximize their own utility. If I can hear the other 5 people, I’ll let them take a vote and respect it.
Updated cases 3 and 4 are identical, it’s just that humans think about actions kind of strangely. In both cases I would save myself unless I was feeling particularly depressed or altruistic at the moment.
The legality of updated case 4 may have been tested in motor vehicle accidents. Steering onto the sidewalk to avoid an oncoming runaway vehicle is virtually identical. My guess is that if there was no way to avoid either accident it would be difficult to show guilt for either choice.
I seem to recall some stories about train engineers who had to make the choice of staying on their runaway train to blow the warning whistle or try to react in other limited ways to save other people before an imminent collision instead of jumping to safety. From my fuzzy memory it seemed like engineers who jumped could be charged with something like dereliction of duty. Captains of ships have similar requirements for remaining with their vessel in distress even if it carries personal risk. So the answer to all of these questions may depend on whether the person who can flip the switch is working for the trolley company at the time.
Updated case 2: Ask the person tied to the track what they would do if our situations were reversed. Do that. My reasoning is that the people on the track are much more affected by the decision than the people off of the track, and therefore my utility is probably maximized by letting them maximize their own utility. If I can hear the other 5 people, I’ll let them take a vote and respect it.
Updated cases 3 and 4 are identical, it’s just that humans think about actions kind of strangely. In both cases I would save myself unless I was feeling particularly depressed or altruistic at the moment.
The legality of updated case 4 may have been tested in motor vehicle accidents. Steering onto the sidewalk to avoid an oncoming runaway vehicle is virtually identical. My guess is that if there was no way to avoid either accident it would be difficult to show guilt for either choice.
I seem to recall some stories about train engineers who had to make the choice of staying on their runaway train to blow the warning whistle or try to react in other limited ways to save other people before an imminent collision instead of jumping to safety. From my fuzzy memory it seemed like engineers who jumped could be charged with something like dereliction of duty. Captains of ships have similar requirements for remaining with their vessel in distress even if it carries personal risk. So the answer to all of these questions may depend on whether the person who can flip the switch is working for the trolley company at the time.