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Does It Matter That the Driver Has to Take Action

question 16

Essay

Does it matter that the driver has to take action to turn the trolley and actively choose to kill the one worker on the alternative track? If the driver allows the trolley to go straight, the five workers are killed because of the driver's passive inaction, not because of the driver's active choice to kill. Or does this make no difference? Would it make a moral difference if the driver refused to choose, perhaps by jumping out of the trolley before it struck the workers?


Definitions:

Monopolist

An entity or individual that holds a monopoly, having exclusive control over the supply of a particular good or service in the market.

Marginal Cost

The uplift in collective cost emerging from the making of an additional unit of a good or service.

Producer Surplus

Producer surplus is the difference between what producers are willing to accept for a good or service versus what they actually receive, reflecting their economic benefit.

Monopolist

A single seller in a market with no close substitutes for the product or service they offer, leading to significant control over prices and output.

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