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The Trolley Problem

The Trolley Problem

The Trolley Problem

Hallvard Lillehammer, Birkbeck, University of London
March 2023
Paperback
9781009255592

    The Trolley Problem is one of the most intensively discussed and controversial puzzles in contemporary moral philosophy. Over the last half-century, it has also become something of a cultural phenomenon, having been the subject of scientific experiments, online polls, television programs, computer games, and several popular books. This volume offers newly written chapters on a range of topics including the formulation of the Trolley Problem and its standard variations; the evaluation of different forms of moral theory; the neuroscience and social psychology of moral behavior; and the application of thought experiments to moral dilemmas in real life. The chapters are written by leading experts on moral theory, applied philosophy, neuroscience, and social psychology, and include several authors who have set the terms of the ongoing debates. The volume will be valuable for students and scholars working on any aspect of the Trolley Problem and its intellectual significance.

    • Explains and makes accessible the trolley problem and its place in moral philosophy to students and scholars of philosophy
    • Contains of state of the art contributions to the interdisciplinary literature on the trolley problem
    • Collects in a single volume a wide variety of approaches the trolley problem rarely found in the same venue

    Reviews & endorsements

    '… an engaging collection of essays … Recommended.' W. Simkulet, Choice

    See more reviews

    Product details

    March 2023
    Paperback
    9781009255592
    290 pages
    244 × 170 × 15 mm
    0.49kg
    Available

    Table of Contents

    • Introduction Hallvard Lillehammer
    • 1. Keeping track of your trolleys: origins and destinations Hallvard Lillehammer
    • 2. Shunted trolleys and other diversions: solving Thomson's puzzles William J. FitzPatrick
    • 3. Must we turn the trolley? Peter A. Graham
    • 4. Nonconsequentialism in light of the trolley problem F. M. Kamm
    • 5. Non-consequentialist principles under conditions of uncertainty: a framework Dana Kay Nelkin and Samuel C. Rickless
    • 6. The trolley problem and the doing/allowing distinction Fiona Woollard
    • 7. Virtue ethics and the trolley problem Liezl van Zyl
    • 8. Trolley dilemmas from the philosopher's armchair to the psychologist's lab Guy Kahane and Jim A. C. Everett
    • 9. Trolleyology: what it is, why it matters, what it's taught us, and how it's been misunderstood Joshua D. Greene
    • 10. Cross-cultural responses to trolley problems and their implications for moral philosophy or: how I learned to stop worrying and love (constructivist) relativism Natalie Gold
    • 11. Ethical accident algorithms for autonomous vehicles and the trolley problem: three philosophical disputes Sven Nyholm
    • 12. A new trolley problem? Ezio Di Nucci
    • Bibliography.
      Contributors
    • Hallvard Lillehammer, William J. FitzPatrick, Peter A. Graham, F. M. Kamm, Dana Kay Nelkin, Samuel C. Rickless, Fiona Woollard, Liezl van Zyl, Guy Kahane, Jim A. C. Everett, Joshua D. Greene, Natalie Gold, Sven Nyholm, Ezio Di Nucci