You know, I have always said that the trolley problem in which you push the fat man onto the tracks to save several lives is immoral, because you are treating him as a means rather than an end.
I’ve just noticed that if I reframe it in such a way that it’s not so personal, my intuition changes. For example, suppose it were a question of pushing a trolley containing one (unknown) person in front of another (empty) runaway trolley, in order to stop the runaway one from hitting a third trolley containing 4 people. Suddenly I’m actively killing the guy.
Pushing a fat man onto the tracks to save several lives is generally considered to be immoral because you are USING a person to achieve some goal.
In your case, you are only using the trolley containing the man to stop the death of four people. You are NOT using the man because the trolley would work regardless of whether or not he is present. Thus, it is mere misfortune that he is present and killed—exactly as if he were on a siding where you diverted a train to save ten people.
You know, I have always said that the trolley problem in which you push the fat man onto the tracks to save several lives is immoral, because you are treating him as a means rather than an end.
I’ve just noticed that if I reframe it in such a way that it’s not so personal, my intuition changes. For example, suppose it were a question of pushing a trolley containing one (unknown) person in front of another (empty) runaway trolley, in order to stop the runaway one from hitting a third trolley containing 4 people. Suddenly I’m actively killing the guy.
Pushing a fat man onto the tracks to save several lives is generally considered to be immoral because you are USING a person to achieve some goal.
In your case, you are only using the trolley containing the man to stop the death of four people. You are NOT using the man because the trolley would work regardless of whether or not he is present. Thus, it is mere misfortune that he is present and killed—exactly as if he were on a siding where you diverted a train to save ten people.