According to Wikipedia, “the trolley problem is a series of thought experiments in ethics, psychology, and artificial intelligence involving stylized ethical dilemmas of whether to sacrifice one person to save a larger number”[1]. In its most common form, a runaway trolley is headed toward five people tied to the tracks. You have the option to pull a lever that will divert the trolley onto an alternate track—where only one person is in harm’s way—raising the question of whether it is acceptable to actively cause one person’s death in order to save five.
Philosophyterms puts it simply: “Picture a big, heavy trolley … rolling quickly on train tracks. Ahead, there are five people tied up, and if you pull the lever the trolley will switch tracks to hit one person instead”[2]. This contrast forces us to decide between doing something that directly causes harm or not interfering, even though doing nothing results in more deaths.
Britannica adds that the problem “has been used to explore the validity and range of application of the doctrine of double effect and the distinction between doing harm and allowing harm”[3]. In other words, it challenges us to consider whether the moral choice should be judged solely by the outcome (saving more lives) or by the nature of the act itself (the act of deliberately causing harm).
Merriam-Webster explains that the trolley problem “illustrates a trade-off between what is good and what sacrifices are 'acceptable,' if at all”[4]. Philosophers have used various versions of the dilemma—not only the basic switch scenario, but also cases such as pushing a person from a footbridge to stop the trolley—in order to compare utilitarian views (which stress the greatest good for the greatest number) with deontological views (which hold that some actions are inherently wrong regardless of the outcome)[5][6].
Howstuffworks and ThoughtCo clarify that the trolley problem is not merely an abstract puzzle. It provides practical insight into how we make moral choices under pressure and helps inform modern debates—for example, those surrounding the programming of autonomous vehicles when accidents are unavoidable[7][8].
In summary, the trolley problem asks: Is it more morally acceptable to actively intervene and cause one death to prevent five deaths, or to refrain from intervening and allow more harm to occur? This thought experiment continues to be a central issue in both academic moral philosophy and real-world applications such as ethical decision-making in technology[9][10][11].
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