Explore Solves the Trolley Problem

Explore Solves the Trolley Problem

By: Timothy Jette

Five people are tied down to a train track and a trolley is running full speed at them. Those five people will die if no action is taken. However, you have a choice. You can choose to pull a lever, diverting the trolley to another track. But, on the other track, one person is tied down, and they will die if the lever is pulled. Would you pull the lever?

What I just described is the philosophical conundrum known as the trolley problem. The trolley problem was created by English philosopher Phillipa Foot in 1967 and the term trolley problem itself was coined by Judith Jarvis Thomson, an American philosopher. The beauty, or ugliness, of the trolley problem is that no clear solution can be found. The trolley problem is also the basis for two ideologies, utilitarianism and deontology. Utilitarianism is the belief that what makes a decision moral is if it benefits the biggest amount of people. Utilitarianism supports pulling the lever. The opposing ideology, deontology believes that actions are inherently good or bad, disregarding the consequences. Deontology does not support pulling the lever.

Explore has many different approaches to the article. The majority of the respondents would pull the lever if put into the trolley problem. 

7th grade student Polina Sobolev said this when she was asked about why she would pull the lever: “I suppose one death isn’t as bad as 5 deaths, for families and also my conscience, and if the one person was saved they would’ve carried a lot of burden and guilt.” 

Mr. Alex also explained, “Because it doesn’t feel fair to kill multiple people over 1, it doesn’t feel fair to save less people, it feels dishonest to pretend I couldn’t do anything.” However people also expressed a differing opinion. 

When 6th grader Adriana Castillo was asked to justify her choice to not pull the lever, she responded with, “ I don’t want to hurt people, I know it would be one person, I would not pull the lever because the other person was not supposed to die, and I would kill them.” 

ELA teacher Mr. Kraft also chose to not pull the lever. However, Mr. Kraft’s initial response was to pull the lever. He said, “I’m really struggling with this philosophically because all my arguments contradict each other. I would not pull because that would make me actively responsible for that one person’s death. I would rather let events run their course than ‘play god’ and take a role in them.”

Even though the majority opinion was pulling the lever, there were still a considerable number of people who wouldn’t pull the lever. This is truly evident of the fact that there is no definitive answer to this moral question.

Published to the Wolfpack Press, January 8, 2025.