The Trolley Problems

You're standing at the place where a train track splits off into two.

A runaway trolley hurtles towards five workers who are completely oblivious to the certain death they face, as the trolley is destined to turn them into a smear on the tracks in just a few seconds.

You can pull a switch that will divert the trolley onto the track that runs away from the workers, but there's another worker there, too. Do you pull the switch and consciously choose to kill one to save five, or do you do nothing and let the trolley take its course, killing five but sparing the one?

This is the Trolley Problem.

Introduced by British philosopher Philippa Foot in 1967, the Trolley Problem has become a classic exploration of ethics, placing individuals in a nearly impossible position of choosing between two terrible outcomes.

However, it’s more than an important thought experiment. As technology advances, this age-old question grows not only in complexity but in real-world relevance.

The History

Philippa Foot, …