“The Trolley Problem”
In this situation, a train with no brakes is barreling down a track. Five people are tied to the track. You are standing next to a lever, which if pulled will divert the train to another track. However, one person is tied to the second track. Should you pull the lever? Utilitarianism would say that you should. Additionally, utilitarians would say that pulling the lever would be the morally better thing to do than doing nothing at all. Essentially, the argument for saving the five people at the expense of the one is that it will maximize the greatest good for the greatest number of people. However, this does not make sense considering that utilitarians do not care how the “good” is distributed as long as the greatest amount of good possible exists for society. |