From the bestselling coauthor of Wittgenstein's Poker, a fascinating
tour through the history of moral philosophy
A runaway train is racing toward five men who are tied to the track.
Unless the train is stopped, it will inevitably kill all five men. You
are standing on a footbridge looking down on the unfolding disaster.
However, a fat man, a stranger, is standing next to you: if you push him
off the bridge, he will topple onto the line and, although he will die,
his chunky body will stop the train, saving five lives. Would you kill
the fat man?
The question may seem bizarre. But it's one variation of a puzzle that
has baffled moral philosophers for almost half a century and that more
recently has come to preoccupy neuroscientists, psychologists, and other
thinkers as well. In this book, David Edmonds, coauthor of the
bestselling Wittgenstein's Poker, tells the riveting story of why and
how philosophers have struggled with this ethical dilemma, sometimes
called the trolley problem. In the process, he provides an entertaining
and informative tour through the history of moral philosophy. Most
people feel it's wrong to kill the fat man. But why? After all, in
taking one life you could save five. As Edmonds shows, answering the
question is far more complex--and important--than it first appears. In
fact, how we answer it tells us a great deal about right and wrong.