0

I would like to revisit the trolley problem. A trolley on a track is out of control and headed to a place where the crash will kill 4 people. You can flip a switch and put it on a different track where the crash will kill only one person. Should you flip the switch?

It appears to be the consensus of poskim that you should not. It is not up to you to decide who lives and who dies, even in a one-life-versus-many situation.

I am not convinced this is the absolute rule and the final word. What if the trolley carries nuclear weapons and is headed for the heart of New York City, and you can redirect it to a place where far, far fewer people will die in the crash? (We are not talking war or terrorism here, only accidents.) Is this discussed anywhere? Judaism does not teach us to apply rules blindly.

Maurice Mizrahi
  • 21,770
  • 3
  • 15
  • 57
  • 1
    Who says consensus of poskim is no? If I'm not mistaken, Chazon Ish says rerouting tracks is not a maaseh retzicha, based on the Gemara's definitions of "direct" vs. "indirect" murder. (Shooting someone and then throwing him onto the tracks would be different.) – Shalom May 06 '21 at 20:46
  • Regardless -- what you're addressing is considered hatzalas rabbim (saving the masses) or even hatzalas kol yisrael (saving everybody ... or a good chunk of everybody); this discussion comes up in a context of gilui arayos -- we don't allow it to save one life, but a bigger crowd gets trickier. The Noda Bihuda addresses that one. – Shalom May 06 '21 at 20:48
  • Thanks, but specific references would help – Maurice Mizrahi May 06 '21 at 21:22
  • And while earlier in the Holocaust there was the usual "never decide", by later it was understood that so, so many were good as dead; the thinking became "it's not an act of murder, it's an act of saving." (As heard in R' Rakefet's recording.) – Shalom May 06 '21 at 22:28
  • It the trolly is carrying nukes, switch the switch. – Turk Hill May 07 '21 at 00:02
  • 2
    You seem to ask the same question, just you've changed 5 to 8 million. – Kazi bácsi May 07 '21 at 07:25
  • @Kazibácsi -- And that change makes no difference? – Maurice Mizrahi May 07 '21 at 14:36
  • Try offering a bounty there for new answers emphasising your issue. But the last part of Ariel's answer seems to tangentially discuss your case. – Kazi bácsi May 07 '21 at 16:17
  • @Kazibácsi -- Can the trolley be considered a rodef? Doesn't a rodef have to be a person? And doesn't the notion of "rodef" apply only to "killing" the rodef, which is not an option here? – Maurice Mizrahi May 07 '21 at 17:18

0 Answers0