The Trolley Problem: What it Tells Us About Morality and Decision Making

The Trolley Problem: A Mind-Bending Moral Question

Photo by Phill Brown on Unsplash

Imagine this: you’re standing by the side of a railway track. In the distance, you see a runaway trolley speeding down the line. Ahead of it, five people are tied to the track, unable to move. But here’s the catch — you’re standing next to a lever. If you pull it, the trolley will switch to another track where just one person is tied down. What do you do?

This is the famous Trolley Problem, a thought experiment introduced by philosopher Philippa Foot in 1967. It sounds simple at first, but the more you think about it, the more complicated it becomes. What you decide to do reveals a lot about how we think about morality and decision-making.

The Choice Between Lives

When faced with this problem, most people instinctively say they’d pull the lever to save five lives, even if it means sacrificing one. It seems logical, right? Five lives are more valuable than one. This way of thinking falls under utilitarianism, a moral philosophy that says the best action is the one that brings the most happiness or the least harm to the greatest number of people.

But then comes the second twist. Imagine now that you’re standing on a…