![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Kantian Deontology & the Categorical Imperative If we were solely concerned with total lives saved, then Don’t Switch and Don’t Push should be morally equivalent and Switch and Push should be morally equivalent. What should you do? Most people insist: Don’t Push.īut in both cases, it’s one life versus five lives. Trolley problems: should he push the man? If you give the giant a push, he will fatally fall on the track, stopping the trolley and sparing the five tied-up souls. However, on a footbridge, farther up the track, before the five tied-up individuals, is a precariously perched giant man. The story is the same except now there is no switch and no side track. What should you do? Most people respond: Switch! We should try to save as many lives as possible.īut consider a modification to this experiment: Trolley problems: should he pull the switch? The trolley can’t be stopped, but you can pull a lever to divert the trolley to a side track, saving five but killing one. An out-of-control trolley is coming down the track. ![]() Trolley Problemsįive people are tied to a trolley track. Here we will use trolley problems to introduce Kantian Ethics, which is the ethical theory developed by Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), and introduce deontological ethical theories in general. “Trolley problems” are philosophical thought experiments where we make an imaginary choice that usually ends in someone getting, well, run over by a trolley. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |