Trolley Problem: On the Moral Track - Moral and Ethical Philosophy Series | Academy 4 Social Change

Trolley Problem: Lesson Plan

Topic

The “trolley problem” is a famous thought experiment used to debate the valu e of a human life and discuss what is the most ethical way to act if one pe rson suddenly has the power to decide the life or death of many others. The c lassic trolley problem involves deciding between doing nothing and letting a train ki ll five people or flipping a switch and redirecting the train to a different tra ck and killing one person. However, many variants of this classic problem have since been proposed and debated.

Possible subjects/classes Time needed

Philosophy, Psychology, Politics, 30-45 minutes Government, Civics

Video link: https://academy4sc.org/topic/trolley-problem-on-the-moral-track/

Objective: What will students know/be able to do at the end of class?

Students will be able to... ● Summarize the trolley problem in their own words. ● Identify variants of the trolley problem that appear in real life or in po p culture. ● Differentiate deontological ethics from utilitarianism.

Key Concepts & Vocabulary

Utilitarian, Deontological ethics

Materials Needed

Worksheet, Student Internet Access

Before you watch

Trolley Problem: On the Moral Track - Moral and Ethical Philosophy Series | Academy 4 Social Change

Poll the class: The teacher should set an imaginary scenario that’s similar to the trolley problem, and ask the students what they would do in that situation. For example: Imagine you’re a firefighter in a burning house that’s about to collapse. In one room, there are five innocent people about to die from breathing in too much smoke. In another room, there’s one person who’s also about to die from too much smoke. You only have enough time to reach one of the rooms, but you can save all the people in that room. Which room do you choose? Why?

Imagine the same fire scenario as above. In one room, there are five strangers who are about to die. In another room, there is your best friend , who is also about to die. You still only have enough time to reach one of the rooms, but you can save all the people in that room. Which room do you choose? Is your answer different from before? Why?

While you watch

Complete the Worksheet matching activity.

After you watch/discussion questions

1. What do you think is the value of a human life? Can you estimate this value using some kind of unit? Money? Gold? Furthermore, are all human lives worth the same amount? Explain your thinking. 2. One popular variant to the trolley problem is that instead of flipping a switch and diverting the train, you must push one man directly onto the tracks. Does your answer to the trolley problem change? Why? What’s the main difference between this variant and the original problem? 3. Why is it important to think through such thought experiments? What do we learn from doing so?

Activity Ideas

● Either individually or in small groups, complete Leaders 4SC’s Program Your Car Task Force . ● Take the Philosophy Experiments' Should You Kill the Fat Man quiz . Try not to think too deeply about your responses and go with your first instinct. It should take about five to ten minutes to complete. Examine your results

Trolley Problem: On the Moral Track - Moral and Ethical Philosophy Series | Academy 4 Social Change

and write a short reflection paragraph about what you discovered. ● Break up into small groups and brainstorm some of the limitations of the trolley problem. What do you think are common criticisms and why? Keep a running list of these critiques and then debrief as a group. ● When presented with the original trolley problem, most people typically choose to sacrifice the one person and save the five. In 2017, a television program redid the experiment and convinced subjects that a train would hit five people unless they pulled a lever and diverted it to hit one person. Write down your hypothesis on how you think these subjects behaved. What percentage do you think would pull the level? Do nothing? Explain your reasoning.

Sources/places to learn more

1. Di Nucci, Ezio. “Self-Sacrifice and the Trolley Problem.” Philosophical Psychology , vol. 26, no. 5, 2013, pp. 662–672. hollis.harvard.edu , doi:10.1080/09515089.2012.674664 . 2. Edmonds, David. Would You Kill the Fat Man?: The Trolley Problem and What Your Answer Tells Us about Right and Wrong . Princeton University Press, 2013. 3. Nyholm, Sven, and Jilles Smids. “The Ethics of Accident-Algorithms for Self-Driving Cars: An Applied Trolley Problem?” Ethical Theory and Moral Practice , vol. 19, no. 5, 2016, pp. 1275–1289. hollis.harvard.edu , doi:10.1007/s10677-016-9745-2 . 4. Stevens, Michael. "The Greater Good". Mind Field, season 2, episode 1, December 2017. 5. Thomson, Judith Jarvis. “Killing, Letting Die, and the Trolley Problem.” The Monist , 1 July 1976, doi: 10.5840/monist197659224 .