Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Would You Kill the Fat Man? cover art

Would You Kill the Fat Man?

By: David Edmonds
Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £10.49

Buy Now for £10.49

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Parfit cover art
How to Be a Conservative cover art
Science Friction cover art
Aha! cover art
Uncomfortable Ideas cover art
Values, Voice and Virtue cover art
Reasons and Persons cover art
The Righteous Mind cover art
Unsettled cover art
A Little History of the World cover art
How to Have Impossible Conversations cover art
The Mind Club cover art
The Science of Good and Evil cover art
The Critical Thinker's Dictionary cover art
The Better Angels of Our Nature cover art
Just Babies cover art

Summary

A train is racing toward five men, tied to the track. Unless the train is stopped, it will inevitably kill all five men.

If a fat man is pushed onto the line, although he will die, his body will stop the train, saving five lives. Would you kill the fat man?

As David Edmonds shows, answering the question is far more complex, and important, than it first appears. In fact, how we answer it tells us a great deal about right and wrong.

©2014 David Edmonds (P)2014 W F Howes Ltd

What listeners say about Would You Kill the Fat Man?

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    25
  • 4 Stars
    31
  • 3 Stars
    14
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    32
  • 4 Stars
    25
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    22
  • 4 Stars
    25
  • 3 Stars
    10
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Depressing (but entertaining)

Would you try another book written by David Edmonds or narrated by Gareth Armstrong?

Not on this subject.

Any additional comments?

The book is well-written, witty and engaging. The subject matter, however, could is enough to make you weep.

Are there really people who spend their lives "studying" and debating matters described in this book? Have they nothing better to do? If you have a limited tolerance of pseudoscience then I advise you avoid everything to do with philosophy. This book gets away with it because it fails to take itself seriously. Indeed, it was enjoyable and engaging until I inevitably slipped back to the thought that proper universities pay people to dedicate their adult lives to fruitless, vain navel-gazing and even be respected for doing so.

Would I push the fat man? Not if it meant saving five philosophers.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

I got it right off

What made the experience of listening to Would You Kill the Fat Man? the most enjoyable?

the first half was interesting, the rest of it was a bit repetitive

Any additional comments?

This book was a bit of a one trick pony.....the premise was interesting but it seemed to drag and repeat

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    out of 5 stars

Thought provoking and interesting

Would you listen to Would You Kill the Fat Man? again? Why?

I would listen again. Though it would have been useful to have included a download booklet. However it was interesting and not at all dry considering the subject matter of ethical decision making.

Have you listened to any of Gareth Armstrong’s other performances? How does this one compare?

No

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The cold decision making process re: bombings in the war.

Any additional comments?

If you are interested in ethics and want a lighter overview I think you will enjoy this audiobook as I did.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful