Justice: What's The Right Thing To Do? Episode 01 "THE MORAL SIDE OF MURDER"

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This is a course about Justice and we begin with a story

suppose you're the driver of a trolley car,

and your trolley car is hurdling down the track at sixty miles an hour

and at the end of the track you notice five workers working on the track

you tried to stop but you can't

your brakes don't work

you feel desperate because you know

that if you crash into these five workers

they will all die

let's assume you know that for sure

and so you feel helpless

until you notice that there is

off to the right

a side track

at the end of that track

there's one worker

working on track

you're steering wheel works

so you can

turn the trolley car if you want to

onto this side track

killing the one

but sparing the five.

Here's our first question

what's the right thing to do?

What would you do?

Let's take a poll,

how many

would turn the trolley car onto the side track?

How many wouldn't?

How many would go straight ahead

keep your hands up, those of you who'd go straight ahead.

A handful of people would, the vast majority would turn

let's hear first

now we need to begin to investigate the reasons why you think

it's the right thing to do. Let's begin with those in the majority, who would turn

to go onto side track?

Why would you do it,

what would be your reason?

Who's willing to volunteer a reason?

Go ahead, stand up.

Because it can't be right to kill five people when you can only kill one person instead.

it wouldn't be right to kill five

if you could kill one person instead

that's a good reason

that's a good reason

who else?

does everybody agree with that

reason? go ahead.

Well I was thinking it was the same reason it was on

9/11 we regard the people who flew the plane

who flew the plane into the

Pennsylvania field as heroes

because they chose to kill the people on the plane

and not kill more people

in big buildings.

So the principle there was the same on 9/11

it's tragic circumstance,

but better to kill one so that five can live

is that the reason most of you have, those of you who would turn, yes?

Let's hear now

from

those in the minority

those who wouldn't turn.

Well I think that same type of mentality that justifies genocide and totalitarianism

in order to save one type of race you wipe out the other.

so what would you do in this case? You would

to avoid

the horrors of genocide

you would crash into the five and kill them?

Presumably yes.

okay who else?

That's a brave answer, thank you.

Let's consider another

trolley car case

and see

whether

those of you in the majority

want to adhere to the principle,

better that one should die so that five should live.

This time you're not the driver of the trolley car, you're an onlooker

standing on a bridge overlooking a trolley car track

and down the track comes a trolley car

at the end of the track are five workers

the brakes don't work

the trolley car is about to careen into the five and kill them

and now

you're not the driver

you really feel helpless