The Trolley Problem: Navigating the Tension Between Consequentialism and Deontology

Abstract

[Name] Consequentialism and deontology are two different and contrasting ethical theories that help to determine the morality of an action. The main difference between consequentialism and deontology is that consequentialism mainly focuses on the consequences of action while deontology will focus on the wrongness and rightness of an action. Unlike consequentialism, deontology will determine the rightness or wrongness of an action by focusing and examining the actions themselves. One of the famous forms of consequentialism is utilitarianism which compares the utility of the consequences of a certain action. Deontology on the other hand denies that morality is not about consequences. The most famous form of deontology and deontological theory was developed by Kant. To clearly define the difference between consequentialism and deontology we will use the trolley problem. The trolley problem highlights the tension between the two schools of moral thought. The Consequentialism perspective dictates that the appropriate action is the one that will achieve the greatest good for the greatest number of people while the deontological perspective states that an action like killing an innocent person is wrong. In the case of the trolley, the problem Consequentialism says that we should sacrifice one individual to save the five while deontologists say we should not. The trolley problem gives us a very distinction between consequentialism and deontology. In this paper, we will make use of Consequentialism and deontology theories to analyze how they apply to the cases discussed in the trolley problem lecture. In the first case, Bystander and the switch there are two options the bystander at the switch can do which will have two different results. If the bystander turns on the switch he will save five people but kill one innocent person but if he does not turn it on he will save one person and kill the five. Consequentialism and deontology theories in this case will apply differently since they have different arguments. Deontology in this case will argue that the bystander at the switch should leave the trolley and not switch on the switch since it is not good to end the life of an innocent person even if it has a good result. Leaving the trolley to pass will end up killing the five people and saving the life of the innocent person. Consequentialism however disagrees with the argument and focus on the consequences of the actions. The consequences of the actions of not turning on the switch will results in the death of five people so consequentialism argue that the best action to take is to turn on the switch. In their argument, it will be morally acceptable to kill one individual and save the lives of five. The above case is different from that of the Trolley driver in that it is the bystander but not the driver of the trolley who will decide who to kill and who to save. Deontology does not support the idea of the bystander throwing the switch since this action will lead to the death of one person. However, if the bystander does not hit the switch he will not be responsible for the death of the five individuals since it is the responsibility of the driver to drive the trolley but he fails to save the lives of five people. Consequentialism thus in this case argue that bystander not throwing the switch is not morally acceptable since he will let five die. The second case is that of Transplant where Consequentialism and deontology still have conflicting arguments about the actions to be taken. In this case, the surgeon must make the decision whether to perform the operation or not and in this case, the five patients will either die or survive. The major question and argument, in this case, is whether is it morally acceptable to perform an operation and end the life of an innocent person so that we can save five patients. According to consequentialism, the surgeon is responsible to save life and not to kill so he should make a decision that will save a large number of people as possible. Based on their view, the surgeon should operate and distribute the organs to the five individuals. This action will lead to the death of one person but save the lives of five which will result in a net saving of four lives. If the surgeon does not operate on the young man to remove his organs he will let the five patients die which is the same as killing them. The above argument however differs from that of deontology theory. According to deontology the action of performing the operation is motor morally acceptable. The surgeon should not perform the operation since it will lead to the death of the young mankind the above view if the surgeon does not find another way of treating the five patient he should let them die....