Poll: The Fat Person And The Trolley (A Moral Question)

[Last Hugh Alive]

Given how i would be arrested for causing the death of someone else, no.

If it was repercussion-free i still wouldn't do it because i dont want to have someone elses life on my consciousness.

... so you'd rather have 5 lives on your conscience?

That's not fair.
Throwing one person in front of a trolley is DIRECTLY killing them.
Not throwing someone in front of a trolley, which causes 5 other people to die, isn't directly killing anyone.

You've hit the nail on the head.

I've seen a variant of this question before with the same principle, the quote above pretty much sums up my stance.

If the five in the trolley were to die, it would not rest on my conscience. I didn't cause the situation, I have no responsibility for the event taking place or the people's fate. Choosing not to save them through sacrificing the life of another is perfectly reasonable.

Also, by pushing the fat guy in harms way, I AM at fault, his loss WILL rest on my conscience because I am directly killing him.

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If anyone's interested, the alternate version of this hypothetical I heard went something like this... There is a bus load of children heading for some train tracks, with a train on its way. For the question's sake the bus and train both have no way of stopping before collision. You have the option to change the train's tracks, but then it will collide with a single elderly man. What do you do?

Same question, though the addition of the children will probably be harder for some people. My answer still remains the same.

 

[Baradiel]

Anyway, question still stands: what sort of trolley?

It's a form of light rail, fills a transportation niche similar to buses. Apparently they're also called streetcars (which you would think would just mean cars) or trams.

You've never heard "Ding, ding, ding goes the trolley"?

Ah, that makes more sense. Thanks

 

[thethingthatlurks]

You do realize this question is incredibly stupid, right? In real life, you would have no way of knowing whether or not shoving the fat guy in the way will have any effect other than causing yet another death. Furthermore, you also do not know whether or not the trolley could possibly be stopped in another way. It is therefore most advisable to not do anything, and to help any survivors after the crash. There, the most "moral" option.

This was my thought as well. Also, as someone else above pointed out, if he was truly fat enough to unquestionably stop the trolley, he'd probably be too big to move.

Not if he's standing. It's quite easy to push people over, but far more difficult to "roll" them. I'm willing to concede that it is possible to tackle the fatso, and for him to then fall onto the tracks. However, for that to happen, he would have to be standing right next to the tracks. Given that he must weigh several hundred kg to have any effect on the trolley's movement, he would likely not be able to move out of the way in time. While he may not die, it's pretty likely that he would get hurt regardless of what I do. In other words, even if I were to suspend my knowledge of the workings of physics and accept the premise and workings of this ridiculously stupid scenario, my actions would have no impact whatsoever!

 

[Brandon237]

Will the fat guy die? Because it really doesn't sound like he will, if he only gets injuries, then yes. If he will die... I don't know, Good Samaritan laws... will they protect me? If it would be lethal, I really don't know...

yes. and you can bail yourself out since you will tell people that he did the heroic act of throwing himself in front of the trolley and there is no fat person in the world who would then pass the opportunity to be called a hero.

oh he dies? well i really dont know.
The only winning move is not to play i guess. let it take the course of actions. life is a biaaatch.

Biggest problem is not the legal terms, but what knowing that you let 5 people die would do to your conscience... damn!Same thing with actively murdering another person to save them... moral choice question that is actually difficult!

[HEADING=3]KUDOS OP![/HEADING]​

This one only involves complete strangers...[footnote]those would you kill your friend to save a plane of strangers et cetera are STUPID, because as soon as you take someone you know, they tip the scale so horrifically that it is not a moral question so much as asking "are you human?"[/footnote] And thus the decision is a truly MORAL one, weighing up lives, whether you have the choice of who lives and dies, whether you would murder for "the greater net survival". Very nice question actually...