Philosophers' Café: The Trolley Problem: Beyond the Memes to Understanding Ethical Decision Making

The Philosophers' Café is a public forum in which community members discuss interesting contemporary issues in a relaxed and informal setting. Our next meeting is Mar. 6th, 7pm, at Brewery N├©nic. The topic is "The Trolley Problem: Beyond the Memes to Understanding Ethical Decision Making" and will be moderated by Dr. Monica Berrier (Philosophy, UW-Stout). Here is the abstract:

"Perhaps you've seen the trolley problem memes. A cartoon stick figure is standing at a railroad junction, and he has a choice: allow a trolley to continue its path where it will surely strike 5 people on the tracks or divert the trolley onto another track where only one person is in mortal peril. Trolley problem memes have been making light of the follies of human existence for about a decade, but did you know that it originated in 1967 in a philosophical paper about abortion? In this interactive discussion, we'll learn about the origins of the trolley problem and its significance to ethical theorizing by considering our moral intuitions on several different variations of the trolley problem that have been the subject of academic philosophical inquiry for over 50 years."

Join us for some fun discussion! Everyone is welcome!

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