Normative arguments using trolley cases rely on the cases' conceptual structure rather than on survey majorities, so response instability is beside the point
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A survey of 92 papers in normative ethics published 2015-2023 that invoke trolley variants (Rasmussen, 2024) found that 81 used the cases to test the internal consistency of a stated principle — e.g. whether the doctrine of double effect delivers the verdict its proponents claim — rather than to establish a verdict by appeal to widespread agreement. Only 7 cited empirical response distributions at all.
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Trolley-style thought experiments lack evidential value for…
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Trolley-style thought experiments lack evidential value for normative ethics because responses to them track framing artifacts rather than stable moral commitments
experimental-philosophy
metaethics
moral-psychology
philosophy
virtues: Accurate unrated · Falsifiable unrated · Clear unrated · Novel unrated · Important unrated
this claim:
Normative arguments using trolley cases rely on the cases' conceptual structure rather than on survey majorities, so response instability is beside the point
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