In the trolley problem, what would a utilitarian likely do?

In the trolley problem, what would a utilitarian likely do?

• A. Sacrifice the five to save the one.
• B. Save five people and kill the one to maximize happiness.
• C. Do nothing.
• D. Randomly choose who to save.

Answer: (B)

Utilitarian ethics judge actions by their consequences and strive to maximize overall well-being for everyone involved. In the trolley scenario, diverting the trolley to sacrifice one person so that five are saved increases the total welfare, because more lives are saved. That outcome best serves the aim of maximizing happiness or welfare. Letting things continue as they are results in five deaths and thus lowers overall welfare. Randomly choosing introduces unnecessary risk and does not guarantee the greater good, so it doesn’t align with utilitarian reasoning. So, the choice that saves five and sacrifices one is the utilitarian option.

Utilitarian ethics judge actions by their consequences and strive to maximize overall well-being for everyone involved. In the trolley scenario, diverting the trolley to sacrifice one person so that five are saved increases the total welfare, because more lives are saved. That outcome best serves the aim of maximizing happiness or welfare. Letting things continue as they are results in five deaths and thus lowers overall welfare. Randomly choosing introduces unnecessary risk and does not guarantee the greater good, so it doesn’t align with utilitarian reasoning. So, the choice that saves five and sacrifices one is the utilitarian option.