I have been thinking about the trolley problem. It was the first thought experiment I read about when I became interested in philosophy. So, in brief, your only option is to pull the lever or not. Utilitarian ethics would place the greater good at the forefront of mind – one vs five. So the active choice of pulling the lever to kill one is a “better choice” than the passive non-action. For me, the first question is what type of person can make that choice?. Who am I to pull the lever to kill one person over five?
So how would the choice change when the “one person” is more defined? Let’s say the one person can heal more than five? Would that change the choice? Yet my real question is, how would my choice change if I have an emotional relationship with the one? Either positive or negative. Would my relationship change my actions?
To return to the original utilitarian point: is the good defined by my relationship? Is there any objective (external to me) way of defining the good?
Sorry, that was way too heavy!!!!
this solitary life 