Every Version of the Trolley Problem Explained

One track. Five lives against one. The math never changes - so why does the same trade feel obvious in one version and like murder in the next? This walks through 12 versions of the trolley problem, staged as a moral theatre: a single bystander stands at the lever and gets asked the same one-versus-five question in a different role each time. Every version turns exactly one dial - the act, the person, your causal role, who decides, or the count - while the five-versus-one tally stays fixed the whole way through. It runs from Philippa Foot's original 1967 switch case, through Judith Jarvis Thomson's footbridge, the transplant surgeon, the self-driving car, and finally the one version that removes every exit: doing nothing. No verdict is handed to you - each case just turns one dial and shows where your gut jumps. 00:00 The Original Switch 00:40 The Footbridge 01:22 The Trapdoor 02:09 The Fat Villain 02:48 The Loop 03:30 The Transplant Surgeon 04:11 The Loved One 04:54 The Self-Sacrifice 05:34 The Judge 06:17 The Self-Driving Car 07:02 The Numbers Game 07:45 The Omission #trolleyproblem #philosophy #ethics #moraldilemma #wouldyou #thoughtexperiment #philosophytok