The Trolley Problem is a series of dilemmas that pose ethical choices for an agent. The most basic version of the dilemma is this:
There is a runaway trolley barreling down the railway tracks. Ahead, on the tracks, there are five people tied up and unable to move. The trolley is headed straight for them. You are standing next to a lever. If you pull this lever, the trolley will switch to a different track. However, you notice that there is one person on the side track. You have two (and only two) options:
- Do nothing, in which case the trolley will kill the five people on the main track.
- Pull the lever, diverting the trolley onto the side track where it will kill one person.
Which is the more ethical option? Or, more simply: What is the right thing to do?
Let’s leave the bystander to think about that, as we are not bystanders in the version of the problem I want to pose. That version goes like this:
A trolley driven by your sworn enemy is barreling down the railway tracks. Ahead, on the tracks, your enemy has tied up your children, who are unable to move. The trolley is headed straight for them…