PHIL 2550 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Trolley Problem, Immanuel Kant, Fat Man
19 Jan 2017
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Consequentialist theories focus on which acts result in the most good in the world. Deontology focuses on which acts are right. The nature of the act vs the nature of the consequences. It is as influential a theory as consequentialism and is often associated with immanuel kant. Deontology will often seem intuitively plausible (it will feel like the right answer) The trolley problem (a. k. a. the switch case): a runaway trolley is headed toward 5 unsuspecting people. You have the option to pull a switch and kill only one person. A consequentialist would. in theory, kill one to save many (pull the switch) Rule consequentialism could construct an argument that could prevent you from pulling the switch. The footbridge problem (a. k. a. the fat man problem): a runaway trolley is headed toward 5 unsuspecting people. There is a large man next to you on a bridge and if you push him onto the track it will stop the trolley.
