Philosopher Joshua Greene studied moral decision-making using trolley problems. In both scenarios, five lives are saved by sacrificing one. Yet people typically approve of diverting a trolley to kill one person but disapprove of pushing someone onto the tracks. Greene's brain imaging showed the pushing scenario activated emotional centers more strongly. He concluded that moral intuitions arise from separate cognitive systems—one calculating outcomes, another responding to direct physical harm—that don't always align.
It can be inferred from the text that
all moral decisions should be made purely through utilitarian calculation
moral intuitions may arise from multiple cognitive systems that can produce conflicting responses
the trolley problem scenarios are completely identical in all respects
emotional responses play no role in moral judgment
Correct Answer: B
Choice B is the best answer. The passage describes how different cognitive systems produce conflicting moral responses.
- Context clues: "Separate cognitive systems" that "don't always align" produce different responses to similar situations.
- Meaning: Multiple systems generating different outputs explains the inconsistent judgments.
- Verify: The trolley vs. pushing distinction shows systems can conflict.
💡 Strategy: Connect specific findings to broader implications about how the mind works.
Choice A is incorrect because emotional responses override calculation in the footbridge case. Choice C is incorrect because they receive "different responses" despite identical trade-offs. Choice D is incorrect because the pushing scenario "activated emotional centers more strongly."