The Trolley Problem
Action
Pull the lever, diverting the trolley to kill one person but saving five. You become an agent of fate.
Inaction
Do nothing, allowing events to unfold as they will. You remain an observer, but five perish.
On the Nature of Goodness
The question of what constitutes goodness has occupied moral philosophers since antiquity. Aristotle proposed that goodness is not a singular quality but a practice — a habit cultivated through repeated virtuous action. The good life, he argued, is not found in a moment of revelation but built slowly, like a garden tended over seasons.
— Nicomachean Ethics, reflection
Temperance
Justice
⚖
Duty
Consequence
Virtue
Care
Where does your moral compass point?
The Lying Promise
Deception
Make a promise you know you cannot keep, bringing comfort now but betrayal later. The kindness of a lie.
Truth
Speak honestly even when the truth wounds. Respect for another autonomy demands nothing less.
Prudence
The Categorical Imperative
Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law. Kant's formulation strips morality to its logical skeleton: if your action cannot be universalized without contradiction, it fails the test of moral duty.
— Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, reflection
Compassion
✻The Whistleblower
Loyalty
Remain silent about wrongdoing within your community, preserving bonds of trust and belonging that sustain you.
Justice
Speak out against injustice at the cost of personal relationships, honoring a principle larger than any group.
Wisdom
Ethics of Care
Morality does not begin with abstract principles but with the concrete reality of human relationships. Care ethics, pioneered by Gilligan and Noddings, centers the responsive attention we give to those who depend on us. It asks not what is right but how should I respond to this person, here, now?
— In a Different Voice, reflection
Honesty
The Lifeboat
Utility
Sacrifice the few to save the many. A cold calculus that maximizes total welfare but treats individuals as numbers.
Dignity
Refuse to choose who lives and dies, honoring the inviolable worth of each person even if more perish.