Imagine that you’re at the controls of a railway switch and there’s trolley out of control coming. The tracks branch into two, one track that leads to a group of five people, and the other to one person. If you do nothing, the trolley will smash into the five people. But if you flip the switch, it’ll change tracks and strike the lone person. What do you do?
People who consider that utility should be the utmost cause for action, say that the single person should be killed. Humanitarians, because they see people as ends and not means, would argue that you can’t treat the single person as a means for the benefit of the five. So you should do nothing.
What would you do?
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