beginner
Trolley Problem: Ethical Frameworks in Action
Apply different ethical theories to variations of the classic trolley problem
📝 Prompt Content
Analyze the classic trolley problem (a runaway trolley will kill five people unless you pull a lever to divert it, killing one person instead) and several variations (the footbridge version, the surgeon dilemma, etc.). Apply different ethical frameworks to these scenarios: utilitarianism (consequentialism), deontology (Kantian ethics), virtue ethics, and care ethics. Compare how different frameworks lead to different conclusions and why. Discuss the implications of these thought experiments for real-world ethical decision-making. Consider criticisms of using hypothetical dilemmas to evaluate ethical theories and whether these thought experiments reveal fundamental truths about moral reasoning or merely create artificial paradoxes.