Chris Beebout Assignment 9

I remember that in AP Psychology class last year, we talked about the train dilemma. Basically, a train, carrying 200 people, is headed towards a cliff, but you are in control of the lever that would switch the train to a different, safe track. However, this second track is NOT safe to the 6 people tied to it who will get run over by the train if you pull the lever. The general consensus is that we should choose to pull the lever, thus directly killing 6 people ourselves, but allowing 200 others to live by preventing the train wreck.

               In other words, when a large number of innocent lives hang in the balance, we have an obligation to kill a few people. But war is hardly stable. No one can tell what other effects going to war will have; killing one Archduke for the sake of freedom and nationalism once caused a global war that took the lives of millions. So, while war can save lives in some cases, the difficulty of determining when those cases are should dissuade us from war except as a last resort.