Trolleyology in Medicine: How the Trolley Problem Sheds Light on Medical Ethics

This book provides an overview of how the intricacies of the Trolley Problem shed light on various aspects of medical ethics. It shows how trolley dilemmas have become useful to ethicists to the extent that they activate intuitions and provide guidance about what the relevant moral principle ought to be in judging specific actions.

Issues are covered at length such as euthanasia, where it is important to determine a relevant difference between killing and letting die; and abortion, where it is necessary to establish if harms can be used as a means to an end. While specialists in medical ethics have argued about these topics at length, few have established connections with the complexities of trolley cases. The Trolley Problem has now become a staple of pop culture and yet, outside philosophy, few people understand its implications. Consequently, this book is of interest to those with a general interest in philosophy, students, researchers as well as those in the healthcare industry where many of the difficult moral decisions encountered are better informed by framing them around the intricacies of the Trolley Problem.

Gabriel Andrade (he/him) is an assistant professor in the College of Medicine at Ajman University, United Arab Emirates. He has previously taught at Saint Matthew’s University School of Medicine (Cayman Islands), Xavier University School of Medicine (Aruba), and University of Zulia (Venezuela). He has extensive experience teaching the intricacies of ethics to medical students, and how that relates to various aspects of behavior, on both clinical and subclinical levels. He has published introductory books on the history of philosophy and has written a number of articles related to various aspects of medical ethics. His articles have focused on the ethical shortcomings of some alternative therapies in mental health. He has also focused on the ethical implications of various futurist technologies in medicine (e.g., cryonics and radical life extension).