Moral Theology (in line of the Abortion Thread below)

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From Wikipedia [Trolley Problem]:

“A trolley is running out of control down a track. In its path are five people who have been tied to the track by a mad philosopher. Fortunately, you could flip a switch, which will lead the trolley down a different track to safety. Unfortunately, there is a single person tied to that track. Should you flip the switch or do nothing?”

There is no time in analysing who are the people tied to the track. btw assume those people are all strangers to you.

This is a thought experiement. The difference is that there is no choice invloved before (as with the foetus the mother has chosen to have it).

If “using a person to save others” is wrong, does that mean flipping the switch is also wrong? Is not flipping the switch equivalent to “using five to save one” though?

My personal opinion is that this question is actually the same as the fat person variation (look it up), therefore answer is not doing an action.
 
Evil may never be done so good may come of it. Do not even take part in such an evil experiment, but stand and let it happen. Refusing to enter into the system created by the mad philosopher would mean he remains the sole culprit. He set the system up, and is inevitably in charge of its outcome. Regardless of what you do, he will be responsible for the death of the five on the track; after all, if it’s “out of control”, yet he has a switch that can move its tracks in a different direction, it’s not entirely out of control. Flipping the switch yourself would make you part of the system, whereas doing nothing would simply make the mad philosopher culpable.

Those five who die by his own negligence will not be on your blood, because you are an unwilling participant. Anyway, we are Catholics and believe that there is more to life than this stage. God would give those five murdered people greater mercy because of their inability to find a priest, receive the sacraments, etc., for He is merciful and not an absolutist tyrant. Were the five to die by your lack of action, He would provide for them.

Questions like this assume this life is the only stage of sentience and existence. :rolleyes:
 
So basically this is as absurd as “You are forced to do a young boy or young girl which one would you choose?” (sorry if this is a bit violent but the fact remains you do not participate in such systems right?)
 
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