Johannes Himmelreich

Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 21(3), 669–684, 2018

Abstract

Trolley cases are widely considered central to the ethics of autonomous vehicles. This paper cautions against this by identifying four problems. (1) Trolley cases, given technical limitations, rest on assumptions that are in tension with one another. Furthermore, (2) trolley cases illuminate only a limited range of ethical issues insofar as they cohere with a certain design framework. Furthermore, (3) trolley cases seem to demand a moral answer when a political answer is called for. Finally, (4) trolley cases might be epistemically problematic in several ways. To put forward a positive proposal, the paper illustrates how ethical challenges arise from mundane driving situations. It argues that mundane situations are relevant because of the specificity they require and the scale they exhibit. The paper then illustrates some of the ethical challenges arising from optimizing for safety, balancing safety with other values such as mobility, and adjusting to incentives of legal frameworks.