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UNIT 9 TRUTH AND LIES

Philosophy - Moral Philosophy
Student information

This lesson links the topic of telling lies with the philosophy of what is right and wrong, part
of the Filosofa programme.

Starter: Discuss with a partner a situation when you were not sure what decision to take - when
you had a moral dilemma. Explain what you did and why.

Now read the text below which discusses one way philosophers develop their ideas:

Like scientists, philosophers use experiments to test their theories. Unlike scientists, their
experiments do not require sophisticated laboratories, technicians wearing white coats or
even rats or mice. Philosophical experiments occur in the mind and start with 'What if...?'.
What if you could save five lives by taking one - what would be the correct thing to do?
Ethical dilemmas such as this are a type of philosophical "thought experiment". They help
philosophers to understand certain concepts and intuitions more clearly and clarify how
people distinguish right from wrong.
Typically the subject is presented with a dilemma and asked to respond. Philosophers then
examine the most popular "intuitive" response and use the information to demonstrate the
implications for real-world issues. But such experiments are not usually tested on large
numbers of people and this is sometimes used as a criticism of the methodology.
The BBC published some well-known (famous) moral dilemmas on their website and people
were asked to vote on how they thought they would act in each case. One of the dilemmas used
was about a train that for some reason is moving without a driver on the train to control it.
Imagine you are a controller at a small rural train station. A runaway train is travelling very
fast along the track. Five people are repairing the track and they will definitely be killed
unless you, the only person who can see the potential tragedy, flip a switch which will
change the train onto another track. However, if you do this you will certainly cause the
death of another person who is working on the second track. Would you flip the switch?
A big majority, 76.85%, of the 3,814 people who voted said yes, they would flip the
switch.

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Check your understanding

1. Say if the statements are true, false or not mentioned in the text. Give evidence from the
text.

1. Philosophical experiments generally take place in laboratories.

2. Not many people are usually asked to respond to the moral dilemmas.
3. In the example moral dilemma, six people will be killed if you flip the switch.

Discussion

1. Why do you think so many people voted yes? What would you do in this situation? Explain
why.
2. Now consider another moral dilemma that the BBC used:
Imagine a runaway train is travelling quickly along a track where it will kill five people. You are
standing on a bridge above the track and decide to jump onto the track to block the train. You
will die, but the five people will be saved.
Just before you leap, you realise that you are not heavy enough to stop the train. A very fat
man is standing next to you and looking in the opposite direction. He would certainly block
the train, although he would of course be killed. If you push him he would fall directly onto the
track below (and the five people on the track would be saved). No one would ever know.
Should (or shouldnt) you push him?
3. What would you do in this situation? Explain why. Did you vote in a similar way for both
dilemmas? In what way is the second situation different from the first?

Photocopiable Pearson Educacin, S.A., 2011 2