The [Climate] Trolley Problem
By Ellen Salter
October 2020
You’ve heard of the trolley problem right? If not from philosophy, then I’m sure you must recall Chidi’s profound teachings from season 2 of The Good Place. Imagine you are standing beside a railway line. In the distance, you notice a runaway train (or trolley) accelerating down the tracks towards five workers who cannot hear it coming. And even if they do notice the train, they won’t be able to move out of the way in time.
As this inevitability looms nearer, you suddenly notice a lever connected to the railway line. You realise that if you pull the lever, the tram will be diverted towards a second set of tracks, preventing collision with the five workers. However, on the second track, is a lone worker - unaware too of the impending threat.
So, should you divert the train, resulting in one death and preventing five?
That’s the trolley problem in a nutshell. An influential thought-experiment, first created by the English moral philosopher Philippa Foot in 1967. So, how does this relate to climate change? Climate change, like many phenomena, can be understood through several lenses: environmentally, socially, culturally, politically, and even ethically. It can be adapted and expanded, and in its own right, it can become a philosophy to which we centre our beliefs and morals about the world, and the way in which we preserve and maintain it for future generations.
The trolley dilemma facilitates us to think through the consequences of our actions and consider whether its moral value is determined by its outcome alone. And we can apply this to climate change mitigation and adaptation. Should we pull the lever, diverting the trolley away from this generation and towards the next? Should we pull the lever, diverting the trolley away from our geographical location and towards another? And what if we know the one person or the five people, and vice versa? Should we apply the relational concept of justice, and pull the lever towards those we don’t know to forsake those that we do?
Unfortunately, constructing this moral compass and choosing which railway line is fraught with with complexities, peculiarities and complications. And there is no one clear answer. Throughout the coming months, we will be exploring the dimensions of justice and how these can be apply to guide policy and frame our ethical and moral understanding of climate change.
© 2020 Climate Just Collective