Variations In Milgram's Experiments

Most have heard of the famous thought experiment conceived by British philosopher, Phillipa Foot; in which the question is posed whether a person would pull a lever to divert a train and kill only a single railroad worker or act in passivity and let the train run its course, killing four workers. Most people who answer this question claim that they would pull the lever, thus diverting the train. In the second part of the thought experiment, a new scenario is proposed in which the lever that was used to divert the train towards the single worker is replaced with a very large man. Responses tend to be less utilitarian and more emotionally influenced. Most people would choose not to push the large man over the bridge even to save the lives of four men. There is a higher tendency for stress to arise in people who administer harm, when they have established a neutral connection with whomever they are harming. A case of neutral connection between persons would be any verbal, physical, or visual contact that is not influenced by any negative bias either party holds. If someone answering the thought experiment say, had a bias against large people, he may push the fat guy over the bridge without hesitation. I’de like to bring up a study …show more content…
These variations changed the proximity of the subject from the learner. One variation which I find relevant to my thesis, is one in which the experimenters were required to force the learners hand onto a shock plate when they refused to participate. In this variation, obedience of the experimenter dropped to thirty percent. A visible and physical connection is established in this experiment allowing for a greater empathetic response. This is very similar to the large man on the bridge in the thought experiment. Most people claim they would not push the man over the bridge to stop the train, just as most people will choose to disobey the experimenter in Milgram’s