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Immoral Choices In The Flying Machine And The Trolley Problem

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Recommended: Rationale behind immorality in literature

The Emperor was erroneous to kill the man who created the flying machine. For example, in “The Flying Machine” by Ray Bradbury, the Emperor chose to kill the flier because he feared that this would fall into the hands of evil. This often leads to the question would you save one to kill five, often called the “Trolley Problem.” This scenario is caused when a Trolley has gone haywire and is going out of control when you have the opportunity to save one killing five or save five killing one. Philippa Foot created this moral depiction to show how much life can be worth. In “The Flying Machine,” the Emperor says "Then spare me!" "But there are times," said the Emperor, more sadly still, "when one must lose a little beauty if one is …show more content…

But the other man will have an evil face and an evil heart, and the beauty will be gone. It is this man I fear.” (Bradbury 115-116). Both of these stories, “The Flying Man” and “The Trolley Problem” show many examples of moral vs Immoral choices. In the story, the Emperor kills a man to enable peace to be kept for generations. But who says the Emperor won't do it again when he feels “Threatened.” This relates to the “Trolley Problem” in ways such as in a situation where there is one intellectual man or five people with average intelligence. Who says one could save all? This perspective shows how people will not care about the values of others but rather the overall outcome of this situation. People like the Emperor can control the desirable outcome by any means necessary, Proving why the value is ultimately more important than the overall outcome, Leaving the people without value-replaceable tools at the Emperor's disposal to be expendable pawns in a game of the Emperor's game of chess that we’re living in. However, some may argue that the sacrifice of one could equal to peace of many. The problem with that is whos to say that one person is less beneficial than

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