About the book
Would You Kill the Fat Man?: The Trolley Problem and What Your Answer Tells Us about Right and Wrong
By David Edmonds
Edmonds offers an accessible, humorous examination of how people approach complex ethical dilemmas. The “trolley problem” is a scenario in which, to save five people from an oncoming trolley, one must sacrifice another person. In the majority of these philosophical puzzles, the titular fat man must die at your hands (by being pushed off the bridge) to save several lives. This experiment tests people’s ethical decision making and interpretations of the results generally fall into two broad camps. Utilitarianism suggests that choices should be made based on how much pleasure they produce and pain they avoid. The other, deontology, argues that people should never use others as a “means to an end.” Here, Edmonds includes similar real-world situations, such as the 1894 Pullman strike, and a “ticking clock” German kidnapping case. Written for general readers, the book captures the complexities underpinning difficult decisions. - Publishers Weekly