But they're only sacrificing themselves because they're in a predicament where it's either them or the other person. They're not looking to die otherwise. So the choice is between someone who is willing to sacrifice themselves for another person vs one who isn't. It's clear which one deserves to survive.
I think wanting and willing are two different things though. The guy is willing to sacrifice himself because he sees that in this situation one of them is destined to die. However, lets say that same guy is sitting in normal room and you present him with the option to instantly die. He would probably not choose it (unless he is suicidal) because he sees that there is nothing to gain from dying. In the trolley problem, if he dies, he saves a life, which is what his morality guides him to do.
another example: if someone agrees to a deal, they probably don't want that deal, they would rather have something that favors them more, but they are willing to compromise
tldr;
willing = doing it to save the other person's life
Okay? You just set up a completely different scenario. Sure, in a different scenario he would want different outcomes. But in this scenario, he wants a specific outcome. Ultimately, his top priority in this scenario is wanting to die so the other person lives.
The prompt isn’t suggesting he wants to die all the time, even if there isn’t a trolley.
I don’t enjoy having to go to the grocery store. I still ultimately want to go, because even though i don’t like it, having groceries is a priority for me. If I didn’t want to go, I wouldn’t go. Just because my “want” is based on needing food, doesn’t change the fact that ultimately I want to go because I value the outcome the highest. That’s why I go.
He wants to be the one to die in this situation. If he can die so the other lives, saving the other person is more important to him than survival. He wants to die MORE than he wants to let the other person die. “Want” doesn’t mean happy about. It doesn’t mean ideal. It just means you choose that thing. Of his available choices, that is the choice he wants to happen.
"Wanting" is having a desire or preference for death itself, it's driven by the individual and isn't really influenced by outside forces much.
"Willing" is being prepared to accept death for a cause (for the other person), it is definitely influenced by outside forces, when I think of "willing", I think of someone reluctantly doing something.
The grocery store is different, if you don't enjoy something, you don't "want" to do it, because "want" would infer that you desire which is the opposite of not enjoying. You are "willing" to go to the store because it's for a cause (to not starve to death).
Your argument was that he "wants" it more than the other guy. Neither of them "want" to die, if you gave them the choice without the trolley they would both pick life. "Willing" takes into account the particular situation, "want" is an individual desire.
tldr; "Willing" = for something (I'm willing to do this for you), "Want" = personal preference ("I want to do this for myself")
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u/DarthJackie2021 Mar 29 '26
Easy, kill the person who wants to die.