Everyone: How would you solve this hypothetical moral problem?

Kill them all and let god sort them out. I really thought you were serious until the "holy book" part. Morality (an artificial construct) would likely have no part in the decision of the person throwing the switch. Morality is unrelated to any religion, as you would have to seriously argue atheists are *immoral* which is obviously not true. Morality is nothing more than a consensus reaction to actions of others.

Why think of the worst case, I could make a decision that could help everyone. You said surely, not definitely that the train would run over a person. As the engineer of a train I would be able to radio ahead and get the man off the rail.

this is not a question of what a holy book would say. religious books are meant as a guide - the human makes the final decision..

okay so, prayer is out, which is fine because they do nothing anyway. but what about finding a way around this.. like, saving all of them. throw the switch after having everyone jump off the train. but by doing this it would mean that i would not be able to be saved..

which ever way you go, saving the five or saving the one, it's still a heavy weight to carry for the rest of your life, knowing that all those lives rested on your shoulders.

if that isn't an option, i would have to say i'd save the five over the one. no need to make a bigger mess than necessary.

Actually in real life something like this happened. It was a bridge. A man's son was on the bridge. He couldn't stop the train without making it derail. He sacrificed His son's life for those on the train. Someone else did that too. Except it was for the whole world. He already made the choice. Now we just need to make the choice whether or no we want to be saved. Sorry I got slightly off track.

How do I know the person laying on the tracks is not a murderer? How do I know the 5 people in the train aren't part of mob squad? I step back and let them all die, why because by doing nothing everything is done. No matter what you do in life, there will always be a course of action. Even if you choose to act or not. Plus it's human instinct to save yourself how can I assume that they are gonna die from the crash anyways.

This would be a quick decision. If someone is on the track, without explaining their circumstances, I would have to save the five people, who knows why the person is on the tracks? There is nothing moral about it, it is purely, a human reaction and quick, almost an involuntary action

If I knew nothing about any of them, I would obviously save the most people I could as it would cause the least suffering to the least number of people (including relatives).

If the people in the train were all serial killers and the person on the track was a young pregnant woman, I would save the person on the track.

If the person on the track were someone very close to me, I would probably save him/her and take the legal consequences, if any. Your first duty is to your family and friends--everything else is a bit more abstract. However, if I were an employee I would save the people on the train, since my position of trust which I had taken on would, in that situation, override my duty to my personal loved ones..

So my response would be informed by a mixture of utilitarianism, moral judgement, social responsibility and self-interest.

The teachings of Jesus, which tell us that we should do as we would be done by and that we should love others as ourselves, provide an adequate basis for action. However in practical situations one has to use moral reasoning as well. (Preferably before the situation arises.)

there is not any foundation for morals if a deity would not exist. i will make 3 factors. Your upbringing might have contained ethical innovations which reason you to have self assurance in and act on them. Your survival instinct informs you to worry retaliation and to not take better than you decide on. Your phych might come pre programed with guilt as a mechanism in case you act unmoraly if the message of a deity latest is authentic. an answer to the question: in case you think the Bible, then the alternative of righteousness, obeying God's notice, would be, or could be, chosen. In different words, the Bible solutions all hypothetical ethical questions.

Either way a Life will be lost. Doctors make those calls everyday. The one will have to be sacrificed for the 5. An event such as this did happen Years ago, it was a Toddler on the line as opposed to a train full of people.The Signalman was the Father and he sacrificed his Child. Tough Call.

I would save the 5 lives, even though i killed someone, I would always focus on how i saved 5 peoples lives.

If i did nothing and let 5 people die than I wouldnt be able to live with myself.

I've got a variation to this.

Your best friend is caught on the other track, and there are 10 people on the train. Do you flick the switch and kill your best friend whilst saving the lives of 10 strangers?