Addendum: you are not allowed to explicitly consider e.g. future reputational effects of your choice. (Most people will hate you for flipping the switch or just for being involved no matter what you do. The safest bet is to run away if you haven’t been seen near the switch yet.)
Interesting—I hadn’t heard that added to the problem before. Are you allowed to explicitly consider other psychological effects of your choice? (e.g. presumably people would update their beliefs to account for “marked-as-currently-unused trolley tracks are more dangerous than I thought” and “in-active-use trolley tracks have another level of safety I hadn’t considered”)
Suppose the switch is stuck halfway between “straight” and “turn”. It will take some effort to move it to either position. If you leave it alone, the trolley will take a path at random with equal probability.
If you take the time to move the switch to either position, you will be seen. The survivors will thank you and the families of those you chose to kill will sue to put you in prison. Newspapers will print your photo and denigrade philosophers of ethics in deeply misguided editorials. Your unique and memorable name and face will be forever associated with the story.
If you don’t touch the switch and run away, nobody will know you were there.
Addendum: you are not allowed to explicitly consider e.g. future reputational effects of your choice. (Most people will hate you for flipping the switch or just for being involved no matter what you do. The safest bet is to run away if you haven’t been seen near the switch yet.)
Interesting—I hadn’t heard that added to the problem before. Are you allowed to explicitly consider other psychological effects of your choice? (e.g. presumably people would update their beliefs to account for “marked-as-currently-unused trolley tracks are more dangerous than I thought” and “in-active-use trolley tracks have another level of safety I hadn’t considered”)
How is that different from choosing “straight”?
Suppose the switch is stuck halfway between “straight” and “turn”. It will take some effort to move it to either position. If you leave it alone, the trolley will take a path at random with equal probability.
If you take the time to move the switch to either position, you will be seen. The survivors will thank you and the families of those you chose to kill will sue to put you in prison. Newspapers will print your photo and denigrade philosophers of ethics in deeply misguided editorials. Your unique and memorable name and face will be forever associated with the story.
If you don’t touch the switch and run away, nobody will know you were there.
What do you choose?