Trolley problem

The trolley problem is an imaginary problem that people can solve to explore how the human mind works.

Oxford University philosophy professor Philippa Foot in the 1960s wrote about the trolley problem and other problems in her 1967 essay "The Problem of Abortion and the Doctrine of the Double Effect."^[1] Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Judith Jarvis Thomson made the trolley problem famous. Now many schools teach the trolley problem. For a time, there was even a part of philosophy called trolleyology.^[2] Jarvis Thomson named the problem "the trolley problem."^[3]

The trolley problem does not have a right or wrong answer. Instead, it is a way to make people think and talk about what makes actions good or bad and why.

1. ↑ "Philippa Foot, Renowned Philosopher, Dies at 90". The New York Times. October 9, 2010. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
2. ↑ "The Trolley Problem" (PDF). Brandeis University. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
3. ↑ Lauren Cassani Davis (October 9, 2015). "Would You Pull the Trolley Switch? Does it Matter?". The Atlantic. Retrieved September 7, 2020.