Question

1- No switch to throw, and still the fat man sits there, dangling his thick little legs over the edge of the bridge, with his headphones on. The fast approaching train, its brakes having failed, races toward the five unaware workers ahead. They cannot hear you yell and cannot at this point otherwise be warned of their impending doom. They are dead meat if you don't push the fat guy off so he lands in front of the train and stops it. Here's the difference this time. The fat man, an hour ago, cut the brake lines on the train knowing that it would lose control and likely cause a deadly accident. He is sitting there, now - right by where you are standing - precisely because he wants to watch the death and destruction take place that he originally set in motion. You know this to be a fact, and (in fact) it is a fact. He did that. Do you push him off now? Talk about this.

Answer 1

Had I not known that the fat man was behind the break fail, I would not have pushed him. This is because I would not sacrifice an innocent person for the safety of the others.

But after I come to know that this was his doing I may have pushed him. This is because there would not be enough time for me to think of other alternatives. ANd having known that he was behind this, my rage at the moment would have pushed him to save the other five. I believe in the saying 'as you sow so shall you reap'. Therefore, being in that situation I would have pushed him down. There may be questions about my morals and values of punishing a person, but I may not have thought about all that. The context is what matters to take the decision.