So you decided to kill one man to save the lives of several others in the future?
The trolley problem is about innocent people. When one of those people is the reason the others are in danger because they are actively trying to kill them, the problem kind of goes away. Almost nobody says you should just let them continue murdering.
But what if the people he tied to the tracks were all murderers?
If you can tie someone to tracks then you have complete control over them. That’s not defensive violence against the murderers, it’s an elaborate execution. It’s not about whether their souls are clean or whatever, it’s about whether there’s an immediate need to kill them.
My position is that the death penalty is never justifiable. The point is that this person presents a danger and for whatever reason you can’t stop them with a less permanent method.
Well then who said the guy tying people to the tracks could not be just stopped and put to jail.
No need for any violence here, i doubt this guy is really dangerous, he’s just a crazy philosophy nerd.
We didn’t stipulate the track tying murderer was being executed, looks like they’re fighting on top of a train. There may not have been any options to stop them falling off the side.
And of course they’re dangerous, they tied a huge number of people to train tracks against their will. That implies a lot of strength, cunning and martial skill, and willingness to do harm up close and personal. Without overwhelming force the only way to neutralise a threat like that may be to kill.
Wait! He isn’t dead (Shia surprise)
There’s a gun to your head and death in his eyes
But you can do Jiu Jitsu
Tunnel, duck!
No, that’s a duck tunel
Yeah but it’s filled with tunnel ducks
Ok so the tunel ducks have to duck when going through the duck tunel
deleted by creator
It’s never over. Many have waited to succeed him. Some of them, if they had the chance, will not hesitate give you far more difficult choices than their predecessor ever dared to give, and it is then that you and many others will think fondly of him and curse the one that killed him.
Did you kill them with a plunger?
It’s the lever he had been forced to operate all those times.
Oh I see it now. I’m obviously not up on my trolley problem lore.
Oh, this is getting real!
But, what if that person was a time-traveller, and was actually tying future mass-murders, serial killers, and dictators to the tracks before they ever got a chance to start their crimes?
This is something to feed to the “ethics module” of a Tesla…
I think the trolley responsibility problem might be ‘solved’, but is it just?
The man who killed the man who tied the people to the trolley tracks is not the hero we deserve, but the hero we need.
Not according to the latest Indiana Jones movie.
“Whyyyyyyyyy-- – do people do this? You’re still just on the train.”
