Interesting philosophical question :)

[TheGreatErenan]

(01-22-2013 09:27 AM)GoHeat 3 Wrote:  

(01-22-2013 09:12 AM)Alvendor Wrote:  Interesting thread, regarding the lever and fat man issue. Am I in the minority in that I would pull the lever but would not push the man?

I agree with you and so does TheQwertiest!

Assuming all people involved are completely innocent and generally equal in all respects, I would pull the lever. But I would not push the fat man, except perhaps if I knew he was the villain responsible for the scenario in the first place. Mostly this is just my intuition talking.

But if I think about it a little, I guess the way I see it is twofold:

1. In a real-life scenario like this you can be sure the lever would alter the train's path, but how can you be sure that a fat man's mass would actually stop the train and save anyone's life at all? This also means that I would try to pull the fat man off the tracks if he was there and pleading for help.
2. The person on the "safe" track is already in danger. He's standing on a train track, for crying out loud. Pulling the lever alters a dangerous situation in a way that minimizes casualties. This is comparable to steering an already crashing plane toward a place of minimal population. On the other hand, pushing a fat man off a bridge is creating a new dangerous situation for someone who was previously not in any danger.
   

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Should a part of this scenario be to assume that you don't have enough wits to spawn a Bramble and create thorns to stop the train?