trolley problem
Ethics thought experiment
The trolley problem is a thought experiment in ethics: a runaway trolley will kill five people unless you divert it to a side track where it will kill one person instead.
Do you pull the lever?
The scenario tests intuitions about active versus passive harm, and whether consequences alone justify actions.
It has spawned countless variants—Would you push a fat man off a bridge to stop the trolley? —and become shorthand for any dilemma pitting utilitarian calculation against moral squeamishness.
Perplexing problem or question
- quandaryState of perplexity
- predicamentDifficult, unpleasant situation
- choiceAct of selecting
- decisionSettled course of action
trade-off · sacrifice · impasse · crossroads · conflict · crisis · moral dilemma · impossible choice
Ethics judging by results
- deontologyMorality based on obligations
- utilitarianismGreatest-happiness moral theory
- applied ethicsMorality for real situations
- bioethicsMoral philosophy for medicine
moral responsibility · duty · rights · autonomy · intention · obligation · moral weight · fairness
Hypothetical scenario for reasoning
- paradoxSeemingly absurd truth
- decision theoryStudy of optimal choices
- reasoningDrawing logical conclusions
- agencyPower to act
impartiality · footbridge · bystander · switch · lever · moral intuition · counterfactual
Instinctive immediate understanding
- emotional responseFeeling prompted by stimulus
- cognitive biasSystematic deviation from rationality
- moral reasoningEvaluating right and wrong
- empathySharing another's emotions
disgust · proximity effect · moral judgment · gut reaction · deliberation · rationalization
conundrum
Perplexing problem or question
- quandaryState of perplexity
- predicamentDifficult, unpleasant situation
- choiceAct of selecting
decision · trade-off · sacrifice · impasse · crossroads · conflict · crisis · moral dilemma · impossible choice · lesser evil
consequentialism
Ethics judging by results
- deontologyMorality based on obligations
- utilitarianismGreatest-happiness moral theory
- applied ethicsMorality for real situations
bioethics · moral responsibility · duty · rights · autonomy · intention · obligation · moral weight · fairness · justice
thought experiment
Hypothetical scenario for reasoning
- paradoxSeemingly absurd truth
- decision theoryStudy of optimal choices
- reasoningDrawing logical conclusions
agency · impartiality · footbridge · bystander · switch · lever · moral intuition · counterfactual
intuition
Instinctive immediate understanding
- emotional responseFeeling prompted by stimulus
- cognitive biasSystematic deviation from rationality
- moral reasoningEvaluating right and wrong
empathy · disgust · proximity effect · moral judgment · gut reaction · deliberation · rationalization
- brain teasersriddle, brain teaser, logic puzzles, puzzle, brainteasers
- what-ifswhat if, hypothetical, thought experiment, speculation, conjecture
- Famous Problemstraveling salesman, Monty Hall, prisoner's dilemma, continuum hypothesis, ship of Theseus
- philosophy questionsthought experiments, hypotheticals, ship of Theseus, philosophical questions, moral dilemmas
- Moral Dilemmasprisoner's dilemma, ticking bomb, tragic choice, mercy killing, euthanasia
- paradoxescatch-22, Zeno's paradox, Zeno's paradoxes, causal loop, bootstrap paradox
trolley problemapplied ethics
Morality for real situations
professional ethics · medical ethics · business ethics · casuistry · situational ethics
trolley problemmoral ambiguity
Unclear rightness or wrongness
moral complexity · wicked problem · tragic choice · moral uncertainty
problem, problems, trolley, problematic, trolleys, unproblematic, trolleybus, trollies, problematically