Deontology And Utilitarianism: The Trolley Problem By Judith Thomson

The trolley problem is a thought problem created by Judith Thomson, asking whether, while on a trolley with broken brakes, to save one man on the track or turn the trolley and save five men on the other track (Thomson 1395). There are various schools of ethics that argue both sides of the issue and its variants, but this paper addresses the arguments of utilitarianism and deontology. Utilitarianism focuses on the idea of utility, or happiness, that is created as a product of our actions. On the other hand, deontology focuses on the idea of duty, focusing on the idea of the action itself, rather than the consequence. In accordance with the original trolley problem, utilitarianism would argue that one ought to save the five men over the one man …show more content…
A clear distinction can be made with the Fat Man variant of the trolley problem: you are a bystander who recognizes that pushing a fat man onto the tracks will result in saving the lives of the five men, do you push the man (Thomson 1409)? In this scenario, a utilitarian would argue that you should push the man for the sole reason that it would generate the most overall utility this would result in saving the five men, whose combined utility would be greater to that of the any other outcome. This clearly displays Williams argument against utilitarianism; the fat man is completely removed from the situation, but a utilitarian would involve him against his will for the sake of maximizing utility. A deontologist would argue on the opposite side of the spectrum; it would be immoral to push the fat man. This is according to the logic of the second formulation of the categorical imperative, which states that a person should not be used as a means to an end. By pushing the fat man, you would be using him as a means and thus the action would be deemed