I've always had a hard time taking the trolley problem seriously. Partly for the reasons you describe, that there are always many more options in real life and posing a dilemma with no good options leaves us feeling like it isn't fair to hold us accountable in such a situation. But also because I think if we were actually faced with such a situation, our reactions would be just that—reactions. Not reasoned moral decisions.
Yes, in philosophy there is certainly the question of how valuable "intuitions" actually are. I tend to no give them much weight like you, so that might be way we do not see the trolley problem as being that valuable. I like the distinction you made of moral reactions vs moral decisions/ conscious choice
Agreed. This is one reason I call myself a virtue ethicist - what determines most of our actions isn't conscious choice but habit. If you were ever actually faced with a trolley problem in real life, you wouldn't have time to weigh the consequences or duties: you'd react according to the patterns you'd built up in your life. The important questions are about how we can cultivate ourselves to be better people with better habits.
Me too! In general I lean toward Plato, but when it comes to ethics, Aristotle has great down-to-earth insights about human nature and living well, particularly what he says about cultivating habits.
I've always had a hard time taking the trolley problem seriously. Partly for the reasons you describe, that there are always many more options in real life and posing a dilemma with no good options leaves us feeling like it isn't fair to hold us accountable in such a situation. But also because I think if we were actually faced with such a situation, our reactions would be just that—reactions. Not reasoned moral decisions.
Yes, in philosophy there is certainly the question of how valuable "intuitions" actually are. I tend to no give them much weight like you, so that might be way we do not see the trolley problem as being that valuable. I like the distinction you made of moral reactions vs moral decisions/ conscious choice
Agreed. This is one reason I call myself a virtue ethicist - what determines most of our actions isn't conscious choice but habit. If you were ever actually faced with a trolley problem in real life, you wouldn't have time to weigh the consequences or duties: you'd react according to the patterns you'd built up in your life. The important questions are about how we can cultivate ourselves to be better people with better habits.
Me too! In general I lean toward Plato, but when it comes to ethics, Aristotle has great down-to-earth insights about human nature and living well, particularly what he says about cultivating habits.
I've had some similar thoughts from a different but related angle:
https://loveofallwisdom.com/blog/2011/02/the-problem-with-the-trolley/
https://loveofallwisdom.com/blog/2020/03/absurd-trolleys/
Amod, I read your posts and I agree. We share similar feelings about how valuable the trolley problem is.