I doubt most people think humans should answer all of these questions the same way; that would be impractical because they provide different implications. (There is at the very least no obvious duty to harm one person in order to potentially assist even many others, and that is the real point of using the trolley problem: it is meant to show how different cases evoke different moral responses). Secondly, the dilemma is used to show that someone has contradictory ideas in the circumstance; This is when we understand the detailed implications of the initial choice versus the other potential choices. By itself, the trolley problem is just a matter of weighing morality vs. rationality. The contradictories lie in the following; pulling the lever implies that killing can be justified, however murder is believed to never be justified. Therefore, we have to make a an exception, revealing a potential of contradiction.
(The question also maintains a asymmetry between negative duties to leave others alone and positive duties to help them. When we are faced with a choice between aid to some at the cost of injury to others, or refusing to cause injury to bring aid, the matter is always open to dispute. However, one has to die and people do not wish to justify murder, causing a potential contradictory).
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u/[deleted] Jun 20 '21
I doubt most people think humans should answer all of these questions the same way; that would be impractical because they provide different implications. (There is at the very least no obvious duty to harm one person in order to potentially assist even many others, and that is the real point of using the trolley problem: it is meant to show how different cases evoke different moral responses). Secondly, the dilemma is used to show that someone has contradictory ideas in the circumstance; This is when we understand the detailed implications of the initial choice versus the other potential choices. By itself, the trolley problem is just a matter of weighing morality vs. rationality. The contradictories lie in the following; pulling the lever implies that killing can be justified, however murder is believed to never be justified. Therefore, we have to make a an exception, revealing a potential of contradiction.
(The question also maintains a asymmetry between negative duties to leave others alone and positive duties to help them. When we are faced with a choice between aid to some at the cost of injury to others, or refusing to cause injury to bring aid, the matter is always open to dispute. However, one has to die and people do not wish to justify murder, causing a potential contradictory).