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Articles

A Solution to the Trolley Problem

Rick Coste says the solution depends upon what we’ll realistically allow.

In a famous essay in the Oxford Review in 1967, Philippa Foot presented us with ‘the Trolley Problem’. It is no small statement to say it has vexed anyone with an interest in moral philosophy ever since. For those of you who may not be familiar with it, one version goes something like this.

Imagine you’re out for an afternoon stroll and walk across a bridge that overlooks a train track. The track splits in two.

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