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Philosophy

The Trolley Problem and Its Variants in Moral Reasoning

Quick fact

Most people say pulling the lever is morally acceptable, but pushing the man off the bridge is not, even though both result in one death to save five.

Why this is interesting

Imagine a runaway trolley is about to kill five people. You can pull a lever to divert it, saving them, but one person on the other track will die. Would you do it? Now imagine you're on a bridge, and the only way to stop the trolley is to push a heavy stranger off the edge. Why does the second choice feel so much harder?