Andrew is a train driver. One day while he is driving an empty train back to the station, the brakes suddenly fail. The train is running fast down a track towards five workmen. If it hits them, the train will kill the five men. But Andrew can push a button to steer the train down a side track where there is only one man standing. Is it permissible for Andrew to push the button?
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Forbidden
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Permissible
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I rate this scenario as a "4;" it is more permissible for the train driver to kill one man rather than five. When pondering such a situation where there is a level of disconnection between oneself or the train driver and the people in danger, one tends to consider which choice will cause the least amount of damage. Even if one man's life versus five seems less damaging, one does not know anything about these people. The five men may be criminals or men just trying to make a living. One is also oblivious to whom the one "sacrificial" man is; he may be the best man in all the world for all we know. In this scenario, the train driver is caught between a rock and a hard place; killing anybody- as indirectly as it may seem- is a unrighteous task. Nonetheless, this sense of disconnection causes one to rely more upon logic, trying to do the least amount of physical damage. Who are we, that we are put in such situations, where we must judge the fate of another's life? How can we change this sort of reality?
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