Common reactions to the three cases
Case #1:
Most people say the right thing to do is save the five.
Why?
- "It's the greatest good achieveable under the circumstances."
- "It's the least bad outcome possible under the circumstances."
- "What would you want done if you were one of the people involved?"
Case #2:
Most people say it would be wrong to cut up Bloggs.
Why?
- "It would be wrong to do that without his permission."
- "It would violate his rights."
- "It wouldn't be respectful treatment of him."
- "You'd be killing Bloggs, but you'd only be letting the others die."
Case #3:
Many people say the right thing to do is divert the trolley, but many say that it would be wrong to do so.
Why?
- "You'd be killing Bloggs, but you'd only be letting the others die."
- "You'd be violating Bloggs' rights if you killed him, but you're not violating the others' rights if you let them die."
- "What would you want done if you were one of the people involved?"
- "It's the greatest good achieveable under the circumstances."
- "It's the least bad outcome possible under the circumstances."
- "I know it would be the best outcome, but what kind of a person could do that?"
- "This is different than the transplant case, because here you don't
directly intend his death."
- "It would be different if you were an airplane captain or something
and you were faced with an analogous decision, but here you're just a
person who happened to be standing near the switch."
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Why?
- "It's the greatest good achieveable under the circumstances."
- "It's the least bad outcome possible under the circumstances."
- "What would you want done if you were one of the people involved?"
Case #2: Most people say it would be wrong to cut up Bloggs. Why?
- "It would be wrong to do that without his permission."
- "It would violate his rights."
- "It wouldn't be respectful treatment of him."
- "You'd be killing Bloggs, but you'd only be letting the others die."
Case #3: Many people say the right thing to do is divert the trolley, but many say that it would be wrong to do so. Why?
- "You'd be killing Bloggs, but you'd only be letting the others die."
- "You'd be violating Bloggs' rights if you killed him, but you're not violating the others' rights if you let them die."
- "What would you want done if you were one of the people involved?"
- "It's the greatest good achieveable under the circumstances."
- "It's the least bad outcome possible under the circumstances."
- "I know it would be the best outcome, but what kind of a person could do that?"
- "This is different than the transplant case, because here you don't directly intend his death."
- "It would be different if you were an airplane captain or something
and you were faced with an analogous decision, but here you're just a
person who happened to be standing near the switch."
[Use your browser's back button]