Principle Of Utility And The Formula Of Humanity

Moral Dilemmas of the Trolley Case
Introduction
This essay will explain what the Principle of Utility and the Formula of Humanity. This essay will outline three trolley cases (the Switch Case, the Fat Man Case and the Loop Case) and how the Principle of Utility and the Formula of Humanity apply in determining what is the moral thing to do when faced with any of these three scenario. This essay will also explain the action that I would take if faced with these cases. Although these principles are useful when determining whether it would be morally correct to intervene in a situation, these principles may still conflict with a person’s views of what actions are morally correct or not.
The Principle of Utility
The Principle of Utility, or

For instance, if a politician is running for a position of public office, the politician would need a majority vote from the voting public. In this case, winning the election is the politicians end. The voters are the means in which the politician needs to obtain the desired end. If the politician is only using the voters as a mere means to the desired end, then they are not living in accordance with the Formula of

Involving myself into the scenario makes me just as guilty of murder as those who were responsible for placing Larry Moe and Curly on the tracks. Therefore it would be morally wrong to apply the switch in the Switch Case scenario. In the Fat Man Case, I would choose not to push Curly onto the tracks in order to save Moe and Larry. Pushing Curly only the track is a deliberate act of murder, despite being an effective way of saving more lives and promoting less pain. In this case, Curly is not tied up, so with no intervention, Curly could go about his day without being affected by the deaths of Larry and Moe. In the Switch Case, I would chose to apply the switch that would eventually kill Curly, but save Larry and Moe. This is the most desired choice in this scenario because the greater number of lives will be saved and the nature of the looped track would always result in the deaths of at least one person. So in allowing one person to die and saving two, the best outcome can be achieved. Larry, Moe, and curly are tied to the tracks at the same time but in different locations, so it is a matter of choosing the lesser of two