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The Fat Man And The Trolley Car Dilemma Analysis

1736 Words7 Pages

There is a runaway train headed towards five people; by you being on a bridge watching above you are unable to reach the lever next to the train. A large individual is right beside you, but you realize if you were to push him off the bridge and onto the tracks the train will hit and kill him. Since his body is chubby, it will stop the train from touching the five people. There are options; one of them is if you do not push the fat man the train will hit and kill five people. If you push the fat man, the trolley will hit and kill one person saving five. This dilemma can be solved by applying the deontological and teleological principles to “The Fat Man and the Trolley Car” dilemma. Based on the principle of deontological ethics, taking action that has reprehensible effects killing another person whether it is right or wrong but, teleological ethics command that some choices cannot be justified by the effects.
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With the deontological principle, we ask ourselves is one person life not valuable enough compared to the five. So, following the rules makes deontological easy to apply, but it also could mean disregarding the possibility of our actions when determining what is right and what is wrong. If deciding to push the large individual over, you will be responsible for one death but not the five because you cannot control the trolley nor the tracks. If you push, the large individual man, over it is an act of murder. Based on deontological ethics, should the person standing on the bridge push the innocent fat man to save the five people on the train or should the person do nothing? The duty of this is to not harm an innocent person or take their life. Based on the deontology principle the fat man shouldn’t have to die, the five individuals should die. All livings things are based on moral beliefs and have

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