TRAIN PROBLEM

BASIC LAWS OF ETHICS

• It is wrong to kill people. • It is wrong to let others die as a result of inaction.

• There is a runaway train heading down the railway tracks. Ahead on the tracks there is one person. The train is headed straight for him. You are standing beside the tracks, and you are in a position to pull the man to safety. What do you do?

2ND SCENARIO

• There is a runaway train heading down the railway tracks. Ahead on the tracks there are five people. The train is headed straight for them. You are standing some distance off in the train yard, next to a lever. If you pull this lever, the train will switch to a different set of tracks. Unfortunately, you notice that there is one person on the side track. You have two options: (1) Do nothing, and the train kills the five people on the main track. (2) Pull the lever, diverting the train onto the side track where it will kill one person. Which is the correct choice?

JOURNAL

• Invent a 3rd ethical law for yourself that would answer this question and dictate your behavior in this situation. Explain your answer in one paragraph.

UTILITARIAN VIEW

• It is obligatory to steer to the track with one man on it. According to simple utilitarianism, such a decision would be not only permissible, but, morally speaking, the better option.

ALTERNATE VIEWPOINT

• Since moral wrongs are already in place in the situation, moving to another track constitutes a participation in the moral wrong, making one partially responsible for the death when otherwise no one would be responsible.

MORAL OBLIGATION

• Simply being present in this situation and being able to influence its outcome constitutes an obligation to participate. If this were the case, then deciding to do nothing would be considered an immoral act if one values five lives more than one.

I, ROBOT

• The robots change their behavior based on “modifications” to the first law and the variables involved.

• As you read the story, as yourself how the events connect to the ethical logic we all use when making moral decisions. What is Asimov’s purpose in writing this story?