This week, we’re going to consider a few classic moral dilemmas.

What’s a moral dilemma?  Well, according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, it is a circumstance in which a person appears morally obligated to do each of two (or more) actions; the person is capable of doing each of the actions but cannot do both (or all) of them; and as a result, it seems that no matter what choice he makes, the person will do something wrong or fail to do something he ought.

Now, these are entirely made-up scenarios, designed by philosophers to make you think—in a concrete way—about things like virtue and duty.  They force you to consider how you would decide what to do, in cases where there is no easy answer.

So, our first moral dilemma is the classic case of the trolley: You notice five people tied to some train tracks.  The train is coming right at them, and you do not have the ability to untie them in time.  However, you could pull a lever, diverting the train to another set of tracks.  However, in so doing you would ensure the train would run over a single, innocent bystander who is tied to the other set of tracks.

Given these choices, what would you do?  And why?  And if the single, innocent bystander was your friend, would it make a difference?  Should it?