wikipedia 23 Oct 2005 03:14 pm
Trolley problem
The trolley problem is a thought experiment in ethics, first introduced by Philippa Foot, but also extensively analysed by Judith Jarvis Thomson and, more recently, by Peter Unger. Similar problems have traditionally been addressed by criminal lawyers and are sometimes regulated in penal codes, especially in civil legal systems. A classical example of these problems became known as “the plank of Carneades“, designed by Carneades to attack Stoic moral theories as inconsistent. Outside of the domain of traditional philosophical discussion, the trolley problem has been a significant feature in the field of neuroethics, which tends to approach philosophical questions from a neuroscientific approach.