Introduction:
The book “Would You Kill the Fat Man?” by David Edmonds, presents a philosophical discussion on the ethical dilemma called the trolley problem. The situation that is proposed is that a runaway train is headed towards a group of five people who are tied to the track. Unless the train is stopped, it will inevitably kill all five of the people. You are standing nearby and have the option to pull a lever to to redirect the train to a different route, which has one man tied to the track. By pulling the lever you can divert the tram onto a side track, saving the five. However, this will inevitably kill the other man. The question at hand is, would you pull the lever? This dilemma has many variations. One variation is that you are standing …show more content…
Edmonds begins the book with the an introduction to another conundrum called the Churchill Dilemma. The Churchill Dilemma deals with the concerns of the morality of the actions taken to relinquish control during the time of war. Edmonds connects the Churchill Dilemma to the trolley problem by comparing the similarities. The trolley problem question is essentially “would you rather let five individuals who are tied down to a track meet their fate from an oncoming trolley train, or redirect the train to a single man who is also strapped down onto the track by pulling the lever?” Edmonds refers this questions as the “Spur” throughout the rest of the book, short for “Spur of the Moment.”A majority of people agree that they would rather kill the one man in order to save the lives of five because they believe in utilitarianism, which is the idea that the greatest good will come from benefitting the greatest number of people. (Edmonds 69). However, a majority of people additionally agree that it is unethical to divert the direction of the oncoming train to kill the man. In order to demonstrate to the reader familiarity with these notions for granted. Edmonds draws numerous connections between the trolleyology and a variety of significant philosophical ideas and debates to highlight similar ideas that is apparent throughout
The book “Would You Kill the Fat Man?” by David Edmonds, presents a philosophical discussion on the ethical dilemma called the trolley problem. The situation that is proposed is that a runaway train is headed towards a group of five people who are tied to the track. Unless the train is stopped, it will inevitably kill all five of the people. You are standing nearby and have the option to pull a lever to to redirect the train to a different route, which has one man tied to the track. By pulling the lever you can divert the tram onto a side track, saving the five. However, this will inevitably kill the other man. The question at hand is, would you pull the lever? This dilemma has many variations. One variation is that you are standing …show more content…
Edmonds begins the book with the an introduction to another conundrum called the Churchill Dilemma. The Churchill Dilemma deals with the concerns of the morality of the actions taken to relinquish control during the time of war. Edmonds connects the Churchill Dilemma to the trolley problem by comparing the similarities. The trolley problem question is essentially “would you rather let five individuals who are tied down to a track meet their fate from an oncoming trolley train, or redirect the train to a single man who is also strapped down onto the track by pulling the lever?” Edmonds refers this questions as the “Spur” throughout the rest of the book, short for “Spur of the Moment.”A majority of people agree that they would rather kill the one man in order to save the lives of five because they believe in utilitarianism, which is the idea that the greatest good will come from benefitting the greatest number of people. (Edmonds 69). However, a majority of people additionally agree that it is unethical to divert the direction of the oncoming train to kill the man. In order to demonstrate to the reader familiarity with these notions for granted. Edmonds draws numerous connections between the trolleyology and a variety of significant philosophical ideas and debates to highlight similar ideas that is apparent throughout