Critical Thinking Day 7
In this session we understood about ethical dilemmas that people may face. Here there were some statements given to us and we were to arrange them in order as per our choices. The statements were about personal and national level choices. This challenged us to think critically as to what choices we make or would make if we were in a situation. The session also covered about the concept of ‘Trolley problem’. Here the situation stated was that a train had only 2 choices – whether to go over 5 people on one side, or change its direction and go over one person on the other side. We came to the conclusion that it should go over the one person on the other side. However, when the situation was tweaked, it mentioned that there is a single track with five people tied to it, and we had an option to push one person off the bridge which would cause the train to stop, but the person wouldn’t survive. We felt it wouldn’t be the right thing to do as it would mean directly being involved in the demise of that person.
Next, we read about a case study about a tradition being followed in the southern regions of Malawi. The case study was discussed in detail and was followed up with learning of various concepts such as – Moral Reasoning, Moral Relativism, Self-Interest theory, Deontology (Duty ethics – Kant’s Approach), Utilitarianism, Rule Utilitarianism. Each of the concept was deeply discussed along with examples and side effects. Lastly we were tasked with some choices under some scenarios. These scenarios were again related to personal, professional and national choices. The challenge here was that for a few scenarios it became a bit tricky as there was an argument between our emotional thinking and moral duties. Yet when it came to we were to do if there was a national threat some were clear with the choices that were in front of us.
This session helped us understand that it’s necessary to take into perspective all the angles of a situation before making a decision in some of the cases. However, there might still be some situations where we may act based on our emotions and self interests and that is okay as it might affect us directly.
Your concluding statement in the reflection effectively highlights your understanding of where critical thinking can be applied and where emotions influence decision-making, limiting its use.
your blog is interesting Making choices between personal and national issues must have been really tough. The trolley problem is always a tricky one, and I get why the second scenario felt so different. Learning about different moral ideas and real-life cases must have been eye-opening too. I really liked how you pointed out that sometimes our emotions take over, and that’s okay because we’re humans. Great reflection!”