The Trolly Problem

Phillipa Foot is a moral philosopher who in 1967 invented the trolly problem. The trolly problem illustrates a puzzling moral scenario where a train is coming down to tracks to hit a 4 people but you can switch the tracks so that the train only hits a single person.

Most would switch the train because 4 lives are more than a single life right? However what if the one person was your best friend, would you switch the train? If you wouldn’t, what makes your best friend more valuable than four people.

But how do you find a solution to this mind boggling problem. My views align with Omid Panahi in that there is no real solution to this problem. In his article “Could There Be A Solution To The Trolley Problem” he discusses how the debate of the Trolley Problem is not over the solution as there is only two possible options, but the debate is over the reasonings behind the choice. There will never be a definitive answer however the debate over reasons will spur great thoughts in the future.