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Justice01TheMoralSideofMurder/TheCaseforCannibalism1Justice01TheMoralSideofMurder/TheCaseforCannibalismThisisacourseaboutjusticeandwebeginwithastory.Supposeyou'rethedriverofatrolleycar,andyourtrolleycarishurtlingdownthetrackat60milesanhour.Andattheendofthetrackyounoticefiveworkersworkingonthetrack.Youtrytostopbutyoucan't,yourbrakesdon'twork.Youfeeldesperatebecauseyouknowthatifyoucrashintothesefiveworkers,theywillalldie.Let'sassumeyouknowthatforsure.Andsoyoufeelhelplessuntilyounoticethatthereis,offtotheright,asidetrackandattheendofthattrack,thereisoneworkerworkingonthetrack.Yoursteeringwheelworks,soyoucanturnthetrolleycar,ifyouwantto,ontothesidetrackkillingtheonebutsparingthefive.Here'sourfirstquestion:what'stherightthingtodo?Whatwouldyoudo?Let'stakeapoll.Howmanywouldturnthetrolleycarontothesidetrack?Raiseyourhands.Howmanywouldn't?Howmanywouldgostraightahead?Keepyourhandsupthoseofyouwhowouldgostraightahead.Ahandfulofpeoplewould,thevastmajoritywouldturn.Let'shearfirst,nowweneedtobegintoinvestigatethereasonswhyyouthinkit'stherightthingtodo.Let'sbeginwiththoseinthemajoritywhowouldturntogoontothesidetrack.Whywouldyoudoit?Whatwouldbeyourreason?Who'swillingtovolunteerareason?Goahead.Standup.Becauseitcan'tberighttokillfivepeoplewhenyoucanonlykillonepersoninstead.Itwouldn'tberighttokillfiveifyoucouldkillonepersoninstead.That'sagoodreason.Justice01TheMoralSideofMurder/TheCaseforCannibalism2That'sagoodreason.Whoelse?Doeseverybodyagreewiththatreason?Goahead.WellIwasthinkingit'sthesamereasonon9/11withregardtothepeoplewhoflewtheplaneintothePennsylvaniafieldasheroesbecausetheychosetokillthepeopleontheplaneandnotkillmorepeopleinbigbuildings.Sotheprincipletherewasthesameon9/11.It'satragiccircumstancebutbettertokillonesothatfivecanlive,isthatthereasonmostofyouhad,thoseofyouwhowouldturn?Yes?Let'shearnowfromthoseintheminority,thosewhowouldn'tturn.Yes.Well,Ithinkthat'sthesametypeofmentalitythatjustifiesgenocideandtotalitarianism.Inordertosaveonetypeofrace,youwipeouttheother.Sowhatwouldyoudointhiscase?Youwould,toavoidthehorrorsofgenocide,youwouldcrashintothefiveandkillthem?Presumably,yes.Youwould?-Yeah.Okay.Whoelse?That'sabraveanswer.Thankyou.Let'sconsideranothertrolleycarcaseandseewhetherthoseofyouinthemajoritywanttoadheretotheprinciplebetterthatoneshoulddiesothatfiveshouldlive.Thistimeyou'renotthedriverofthetrolleycar,you'reanonlooker.You'restandingonabridgeoverlookingatrolleycartrack.Anddownthetrackcomesatrolleycar,attheendofthetrackarefiveworkers,thebrakesdon'twork,thetrolleycarisabouttocareenintothefiveandkillthem.Andnow,you'renotthedriver,youreallyfeelhelplessuntilyounoticestandingnexttoyou,leaningoverthebridgeisaveryfatman.Andyoucouldgivehimashove.Hewouldfalloverthebridgeontothetrackrightinthewayofthetrolleycar.Hewoulddiebuthewouldsparethefive.Now,howmanywouldpushthefatmanoverthebridge?Justice01TheMoralSideofMurder/TheCaseforCannibalism3Raiseyourhand.Howmanywouldn't?Mostpeoplewouldn't.Here'stheobviousquestion.Whatbecameoftheprinciplebettertosavefivelivesevenifitmeanssacrificingone?Whatbecameoftheprinciplethatalmosteveryoneendorsedinthefirstcase?Ineedtohearfromsomeonewhowasinthemajorityinbothcases.Howdoyouexplainthedifferencebetweenthetwo?Yes.Thesecondone,Iguess,involvesanactivechoiceofpushingapersondownwhichIguessthatpersonhimselfwouldotherwisenothavebeeninvolvedinthesituationatall.Andsotochooseonhisbehalf,Iguess,toinvolvehiminsomethingthatheotherwisewouldhaveescapedis,Iguess,morethanwhatyouhaveinthefirstcasewherethethreeparties,thedriverandthetwosetsofworkers,arealready,Iguess,inthesituation.Buttheguyworking,theoneonthetrackofftotheside,hedidn'tchoosetosacrificehislifeanymorethanthefatmandid,didhe?That'strue,buthewasonthetracksand...Thisguywasonthebridge.Goahead,youcancomebackifyouwant.Allright.It'sahardquestion.Youdidwell.Youdidverywell.It'sahardquestion.Whoelsecanfindawayofreconcilingthereactionofthemajorityinthesetwocases?Yes.Well,Iguessinthefirstcasewhereyouhavetheoneworkerandthefive,it'sachoicebetweenthosetwoandyouhavetomakeacertainchoiceandpeoplearegoingtodiebecauseofthetrolleycar,notnecessarilybecauseofyourdirectactions.Thetrolleycarisarunawaythingandyou'remakingasplitsecondchoice.Whereaspushingthefatmanoverisanactualactofmurderonyourpart.Youhavecontroloverthatwhereasyoumaynothavecontroloverthetrolleycar.SoIthinkit'saslightlydifferentsituation.Allright,whohasareply?Justice01TheMoralSideofMurder/TheCaseforCannibalism4That'sgood.Whohasaway?Whowantstoreply?Isthatawayoutofthis?Idon'tthinkthat'saverygoodreasonbecauseyouchoosetoeitherwayyouhavetochoosewhodiesbecauseyoueitherchoosetoturnandkilltheperson,whichisanactofconsciousthoughttoturn,oryouchoosetopushthefatmanoverwhichisalsoanactive,consciousaction.Soeitherway,you'remakingachoice.Doyouwanttoreply?I'mnotreallysurethatthat'sthecase.Itjuststillseemskindofdifferent.Theactofactuallypushingsomeoneoverontothetracksandkillinghim,youareactuallykillinghimyourself.You'repushinghimwithyourownhands.You'repushinghimandthat'sdifferentthansteeringsomethingthatisgoingtocausedeathin