author: Thomas Cathcart
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2014/06/04
date added: 2014/06/04
shelves: non-fiction
review:
'The Trolley Problem' takes a philosophical problem and expands it out into a clever way to explain some philosophical ideas. The trolley problem is a question that has been asked for a while. A trolley is out of control. On the track ahead are five people, who for whatever reason, are unable to get out of the way. You are standing by a switch that can divert the trolley to a side track, but there is a lone person on this track who will be killed instead. Do you throw the switch to save the five people or do you let matters take their course?
The book is presented as a court case that is played in the modern media. It takes place in one of the few cities left that has trolleys, San Francisco. There are police reports, attorney statements, public debates on the radio and in classrooms. Throughout are interwoven the underpinning arguments and schools of philosophy. There are also a few wrinkles added to show variants on the Trolley Problem. Does doing nothing make you a murderer, or throwing the switch and dooming the lone man? Is it right to kill one to save some?
It's an interesting moral/ethical conundrum and Thomas Cathcart presents it in a highly readable manner. It's easy to see why this problem has prompted debate. I found it intelligent and fascinating.
I was given a review copy of this ebook by Workman Publishing Company and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this great book.
via Wayne's bookshelf: read http://ift.tt/1mcLhtw
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