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johnslat
I'm a 68 year old English teacher living with my wife, & our 2 dogs & 1 cat in Santa Fe, NM. I'm a Vietnam vet, USMC 1963-1967, Chu Lai, Vietnam, 1965-66. I have an MA in English Ed., & I've spent most of my teaching career abroad: 3/4 of a year in Shiraz, Iran (my timing was bad - I arrived in '78 just about 1/2 a year before the "Islamic Revolution." I didn't leave in time, so I got to see it happen & finally was able to leave 2 months later.) I lived & worked in Saudi Arabia for 19 years (not continuously - with breaks), 4 years in Jeddah, 15 in Riyadh, teaching English for the Institute of Public Administration. In between, I worked in Jakarta, Indonesia (2 years) & taught all levels (elementary - college) in the States, in FL, CO, CA, KS, MO & NM. I taught Head Start for 8 months, ESL & Critical Reading at Santa Fe Community College & GED at the NM State Penitentiary. Now, I teach at SFCC and SFUAD. I think Yahoo Questions/Answers is great; I'
A Moral Dilemma for you?
Suppose you could save five lives by taking one - what would be the correct thing to do?
Here is the first scenario:
A runaway trolley car is hurtling down a track. In its path are five people who will definitely be killed unless you, a bystander, flip a switch which will divert it on to another track, where it will kill one person. Should you flip the switch?
Now, the second scenario:
The runaway trolley car is hurtling down a track where it will kill five people. You are standing on a bridge above the track and, aware of the imminent disaster, you decide to jump on the track to block the trolley car. Although you will die, the five people will be saved.
Just before your leap, you realise that you are too light to stop the trolley. Next to you, a fat man is standing on the very edge of the bridge. He would certainly block the trolley, although he would also die from the impact. A small nudge and he would fall right onto the track below. No one would ever know. Should you push him?
23 AnswersPhilosophy2 decades ago