Ethical Dilemma

An enormous rock falls and blocks the exit of a cave you and five other tourists have been exploring. Fortunately, you spot a hole elsewhere and decide to let "Big Jack" out first. But Big Jack, a man of generous proportions, gets stuck in the hole. He cannot be moved and there is no other way out.

The high tide is rising and, unless you get out soon, everyone but Big Jack (whose head is sticking out of the cave) will inevitably drown. Searching through your backpack, you find a stick of dynamite. It will not move the rock, but will certainly blast Big Jack out of the hole. Big Jack, anticipating your thoughts, pleads for his life. He does not want to die, but neither do you and your four companions. Should you blast Big Jack out? If the roles were reversed, what would you advise your trapped companions to do?

Thought experiments, although abstract, possibly implausible and open to different interpretations, can have important repercussions on the way we think and act as individuals. They raise thorny questions about morality in medicine, war, politics and indeed in everyday life. Is there a difference between killing someone and letting them die? Are consequences all that matter, or are there some things we should never do, whatever the outcome?

By pointing out inconsistencies in our thinking, or simply encouraging us to reflect on issues we usually ignore, they can sharpen our intellect and enrich our moral lives. They also make for great conversation topics at the dinner table or at the pub. But be warned: you may lose friends as a result. And stay away from caves and bridges.

These types of problems are called trolley problems; trolley problem is a thought experimentin ethics, first introduced by Philippa Foot, but also extensively analysed by Judith Jarvis Thomsonand, more recently, by Peter Unger. Similar problems have traditionally been addressed by criminal lawyersand are sometimes regulated in penal codes, especially in civil legal systems. A classical example of these problems got known as "the plank of Carneades", forged by Carneadesto attack Stoicmoral theories as inconsistent.

Let us discuss it with respect to John stuart Mills and Immanuel Kant philosophy. To die to save others is right or to die and let them die; this is the ethical dilemma in this scenario. Ethical dilemmas have been described a strying to choose between right and right. Because they often ...