The Trolley Problem
The Trolley Problem presents an ethical conflict where a driver of a runaway trolley can only use a narrow track and can only be able to switch to another track. On one track, a one man is working, and five other men are working on the other road, and anyone found working on the road when the trolley enters he will be killed. This presents the Trolley Problem. To solve this ethical conflict, it is necessary to create an evaluation of the of a logical argument which has two things; the premises need to be true, and the form of support that the premises give to the conclusion of the argument created. Logic needs to be used in creating an argument that can help to solve the problem; logic can be defined as the study of strengths and evidence that exist between the premises established and the conclusions of an argument (Skyrms 13). For instance, in the Trolley Problem, depending on the choice of an individual, one sees the prevailing tragedies of either the death of one man or five men depending on the decision of the tram driver. In solving this case morally, it is necessary to consider the negative duties and positive duties that one needs to fulfill ethically.
Negative and Positive Duties
Negative duties are the obligations that an individual has to refrain from harming other people, on the other hand, positive duties are those obligations that one actively gets involved in to do good. We have strong intuitions that allow us to create arguments that are valid (Priest 7). The argument to solve this problem is; the driver needs to perform positive duties to do good and save the lives of five men actively. This means that the driver will kill one man but save the lives of five people, this way he would have solved the problem. However, a question arises from these readings, negative and positive moral duties are obligations that require an individual to refrain from harming others or causing death. Why do the positive responsibilities, in this case, lead to the killing of an individual in this Trolley Problem?
Works Cited
Skyrms, Brian. "Choice and chance: An introduction to inductive logic." (1967): 1-15
Priest, Graham. Logic: A very short introduction. Vol. 29. Oxford University Press, 2017: 1-23
