Which one is more important, one life or five lives?
This is the most complex and most valuable thought experiment in the field of philosophy at present - "" tram puzzle ".
If a tram is moving forward, there are 5 people tied to the track in front of the track, and the tram continues to move forward, these 5 people will die; at this time, you have a pull rod on your hand. Pull the pull rod and the tram will turn to another track, which can save the lives of these 5 people, but there is also a person tied to the new track.
Tram puzzle
What choice will you make at this time? Should I let this person die, or let these five people die?
No matter what choice is made, someone will be saved by you and safely. Of course, someone will die because of your choice. So is this considered saving or killing? Should this be done? This issue, which was raised in 1967, is still one of the topics that people have been debating.
, a seemingly boring and extreme philosophical question, is like a mirror, showing everyone's deep thoughts. Everyone can know what kind of person they are from their own behavior.
Tram puzzle
If you choose to sacrifice one person to save 5 people, then you are an utilitarian . Because for a group, the sacrifice of a minority is more worthy than the sacrifice of the majority, which will allow the remaining people to gain greater benefits. If a group wants to grow gradually, this small number of sacrifices are actually taking place all the time.
If you choose to do nothing, then you are an deonist . Demonist people always insist on good deeds, which are implemented from beginning to end. People like this often cannot tolerate any means for noble purposes and pay great attention to morality in daily life.
Tram puzzle
Of course, no matter how you choose, there is no absolute correct or wrong answer, because the ultimate goal of any philosophy problem is not to find the optimal solution, but to see clearly the essence of something and a certain person in the process of constant debate and understand why this person does this.
may not be able to understand. This question is simply full. Why should you consider such a problem very well?
"Tram Problem" is actually everywhere in life .
British cannibal case trial site
1884, a case that shocked the world broke out in the UK, the cannibal case. More specifically, it is the story of three sailors who had been wandering on an uninhabited island due to wind and waves, who killed a teenager in a critical condition and ate the dead body until they were rescued by a ship.
This is a typical "tram problem". Even if this story has embellished the situation more softly, for example, the teenager is already in danger before being killed and will die sooner or later, it is just a matter of time. If the teenager does not die, then the other three sailors will undoubtedly die; and if the teenager dies, at least the other three people will have a chance to survive. If you were one of these 3 sailors, which one would you choose?
suicide
In 2020, a news report was reported: A man in Changzhou, Jiangsu climbed onto a telephone pole to commit suicide and could die easily. In order to rescue, the police chose to cut off the nearby power supply. But no one knew that two kilometers away from the suicide scene, a seriously ill woman was wearing a ventilator mask. Because of the power outage for rescue, the woman suffocated in an ambulance rushing to the hospital 40 minutes later.
or above are all replicas of the "tram problem" in reality. When you really encounter it, you can choose at will, but you can't blame anyone who makes other choices.
Tram puzzle
This "tram puzzle" with no correct answer has become the touchstone of human nature. Even with the same problem, people will make different choices in different contexts.
In 2020, someone conducted a survey on 70,000 people around the world, and the results were surprising. The basic elements of the "tram problem" are the comparison between 5 people and 1 person, life and death. Therefore, when the investigator conducts the investigation, he sets two scenes. One is the "track transition scene" and the other is the " pedestrian overpass scene", that is, there is a fat man on the pedestrian overpass. If he pushes down, the fat man can block the tram, and he still saves five people with one person's sacrifice.
Tram puzzle variant
In the transition scene, 81% of people choose to press the pull rod; but in the pedestrian overpass scene, only 51% of people choose to push the fat man down. This significant difference shows that even utilitarians who prefer to save five people have a certain sense of morality in their hearts. This sense of morality may be a person's simplest idea and the most instinctive kindness of human nature.
Morality is not static, so the "tram problem" can last forever and become a hot topic of discussion every time . There is nothing wrong with whether it is a utilitarian or a deontologist, because there is nothing right or wrong in choosing in extreme cases.
