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Would You Kill The Fat Man?: The Trolley Problem And What Your Answer Tells Us About Right And Wrong (2013)

by David Edmonds(Favorite Author)

3.79 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0691154023 (ISBN13: 9780691154022)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Princeton University Press

review 1: The trolley problem is Philippa Foot's delicious puzzle from 1967 that presents a person near a train track with a train coming and about to kill five people tied to the track and one tied to a separate spur. Should the person hit the track diversion switch to save the five but kill the one? How does one make that decision? Shouldn't one examine and test the unconscious principles one uses intuitively?The answer is a resounding yes, indeed!, for it is logical to strive for reflective equilibrium, that state of having our "set of beliefs about principles and our beliefs about individual cases achieve a state of balance or coherence." Edmonds applies snippets of the work of philosophers from Aquinas, Hume, and Bentham to Elizabeth Anscombe, Frances Kamm and Judith Jarvis Th... moreomson [women are finally highlighted in a work of philosophy!] to the trolley problem, its various nuanced iterations, and related real-life scenarios to explore the ways we make moral decisions.This would make a fine introductory text in a Philosophy course because it is accessible, stimulating, and convincingly demonstrates the value of the very act of considering how we determine right from wrong.
review 2: An engaging introduction to "trolleyology". We are guided through variations such as "the Spur", "the Loop", "the Trap Door" and "Five Behind"... along with examinations of the Foot-Anscombe-Murdoch-Cleveland axis, and the question of whether Elizabeth Kamm was "off her trolley". And can there really be "experimental philosophy"? One almost expects the philosophy faculty of Wooloomaloo to weigh in. less

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