When I got up today, the person I saw in the mirror was skinner than he really is, has more hair than he truly does, and is much better looking than his dating success would indicate. Oh, by the way, the person I saw in the mirror also is, on occasion, less ethical then he aspires to be. As to ethics, two studies prove that such a gap between aspiration and reality is true for me and for others. How so?
The context of a situation, not an unchanging moral core, governs how people decide to act. Exhibit A: two new books discussing the scenario dubbed the trolley and the fat man. “Would You Kill the Fat Man? The Trolley Problem and What Your Answer Tells Us About Right and Wrong” by David Edmonds and “The Trolley Problem, or Would You Throw the Fat Guy Off the Bridge: A Philosophical Conundrum” from Thomas Cathcart.
