In most cases, people encounter conflicting situations that require them to make difficult choices. Such conditions usually create a significant dilemma between right and wrong. Any decision made will automatically produce a side effect on concerned individuals. The scenario is presented in the trolley problem, which is a fictional situation that requires the train conductors to make a choice of either saving many people or one individual by changing the train’s path. The trolley issue intends to assert the aspect of moral conduct, especially when an individual is faced with an ethical dilemma taking into consideration the deontological or teleological perspective.
Based on the trolley situation, failure to throw the switch will result in a collision between the two trains. However, by flinging the switch, the train will divert to the rail having one person. Considering the condition at hand, I will definitely act by throwing the switch in order to change the direction of the train towards the single man. The action will ensure the fatality that would occur when the two trains collide is avoided. Generally, the trains contain many people, and failure to divert one of them would lead to more deaths. If the train ramps on one person, only a single life will be lost, unlike when both trains collide. The approach will lower the number of lives out to be lost, assuming I did not act at all.
By my action, which will be to throw the switch, it is evident that I am driven by the outcome of an event. In other words, my focus is based mainly on the maximization of possible benefits from a given situation. Considering the choice, my moral allows me to do the wrong, provided the end result is essential for the community. It is better to lose a single life than to have more people dead.
Based on the decision, I am a teleological thinker because I value the optimal outcome of any situation. The teleological perspective asserts that the nature of the decision made does not matter, and the concern is on its impact. Unlike the deontological point of view, that determines whether an action is right or wrong, the teleological gives people a chance to examine the consequences and base the choice on the possible end results. In this situation, the focus will be to identify the option that will yield more benefits than the other, and it is regarded as a moral action. Therefore, it is ethically permissible to sacrifice one life and save many people that would perish if the trains collide.
The trolley problem is a fictional thought experiment that is essential in evaluating two conflicting ethical ideas. It is useful in enabling people to understand their moral conduct. Based on the situation, I will opt to sacrifice one person to save the people on the train from dying. The action will reduce the impact of the outcome, which is the number of possible deaths from the collision. The decision will save many people from choosing to be morally right. Considering the action I will take, I am a teleological thinker, meaning that my decisions are significantly influenced or depend majorly on the final result. Before engaging in any activity, I weigh the consequences associated with any choice to be made. Therefore, according to the trolley problem, it is permissible to lose one life and save a large number of people.