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

[Obsideo]

First off, forgive me if this is a common moral question, but I'd only heard about it today.


Say you're walking down the street when a trolley carrying five people rushing past you, clearly out of control, towards a cliff. If the trolley is not stopped everyone on it will die. The brakes don't work and there is no other way to stop the trolley.


Except for the fat person standing next to you.

If you pushed him/her in front of the trolley, it will stop and the five people will be saved.

Do you do it?


Just for argument's sake, there is no other way to stop the trolley AT ALL and likewise, pushing the fat person in front of the trolley has a 100% chance of stopping it, no exceptions.

EDIT: Also these are all ordinary people, no one will go on to cure cancer or anything so that can't be brought into the equation. You're not able to throw yourself in front of the trolley because, for the sake of the question, you're not bulky enough to stop/derail it.

EDIT 2: Maybe this will help with this question. You will suffer no legal repercussions if you push the man/woman. No one will ever know what you did. The people, including the fat person, are all innocent of crimes, none are murderers or evil people, and they're all in good morality. I didn't post the races of the people because I didn't see why it was relevant. I know there'd be some sort of loophole like throwing a brick under the trolley wheel, but just for the sake of this, pretend there are none. I guess the most basic form of the question is, "Would you kill an innocent person to save 5 other people?"

Sorry if I had confused/mislead anyone.

 

[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...

 

[Lust]

Is the fat guy an asshole? If he is, then, I would.

But, what if I mistime pushing the guy out?

 

[ChaoticKraus]

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.

 

[Extravagance]

Ignoring any legal thingy, this is just basic Utilitarian principle. The moral action is the one that creates the greatest happiness. Saving 5 people by sacrificing one is the morally good thing to do, achording to them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_problem

 

[vxicepickxv]

You have to hit the ground running, bones heal.

 

[DEAD34345]

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?

Yes, I'd do it, without hesitation. I'd probably feel pretty bad about it afterwards, but when it's a choice between saving 5 people or saving one the answer is obvious.

 

[StealthyNinja]

If he's bulky enough to stop a trolley with five people in it, how the hell am I going to push him? IF I can roll push him, I will. I'll be saving 5 lives, why would I not?

 

[DJDarque]

Considering I would be the fat person in this dilemma, I would hope someone wouldn't just push me into it. That doesn't mean I wouldn't try to help in some way, but I wouldn't want some random person deciding I'm less important than anybody else.

 

[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.

 

[baconsarnie]

Can't i tackle him with me holding on and on the trolley side so that the trolley gets stopped and i shield the fat guy from some of the impact possibly saving him by sacrificing myself and thus dying a hero.

 

[Codeknight]

What's with all these kill one to save more questions. seems there is at least one every couple days. Babies, children, fat people, priests (though to be fair I don't think that one was on the escapist). What's with the obsession of death, improbable scenarios, and limited moral choices? I think a straight up "what would you do?" question would be more interesting. When I clicked I thought the question was going to be along the lines of giving up your seat for the overweight person. Sorry for the text block and smallish rant. :\

 

[Asuka Soryu]

This guy's so fat, he can be in front of a trolley that's out of controll and it'll stop instantly?


And you're gone to push him? Good luck with that.

 

[ChaoticKraus]

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?

Yes, I'd do it, without hesitation. I'd probably feel pretty bad about it afterwards, but when it's a choice between saving 5 people or saving one the answer is obvious.

Ah but if i did push him i would be the one who made a morally reprehensible action. I would be the one who made that person die.

If i didn't i would just be an observer who failed to take action.

Might seem cowardly but my brain would forever haunt me if i killed an innocent person.

 

[Spirultima]

Personally, I'd try an alternative means, but this in this (Rather unrealistic) scenario where nothing works but a fat dude, I'd likely push him, simply because it could cause aggro if I do not

 

[Jamboxdotcom]

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.

 

[Lazy Kitty]

I think the real question is whether or not I can quickly get some popcorn...

To be honest, you never know what you would do in any situation until it actually happens.