...and no friends other than you, they have no family and nothing really to live for...or a complete stranger; a widowed mother of 2 children. What would you do? You have no choice. If you don't decide they will both die.
As a note*** To the person who caught me plaguerizing from Gregory Stock earlier...this question is from Dean Koontz's "Velocity". I just think they're great quest questions and want to know other's opinions! :)
2007-03-24 08:46:04 · 11 answers · asked by Sweet Candy 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
I love Dean Koontz and haven't read that book, but will just so I know what it is your really asking..... but if I understand correctly I would kill the friend, because I would hope that he would understand and forgive me..... the women has to raise two children, and who knows what they have to contribute to society, and they have a better chance if they have a loving mother.....I would rather know the person who,s life I stole anyway, just so I can hope to finish anything they left undone.
2007-03-24 17:05:11 · answer #1 · answered by She Said 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
IF there's no other choice (a very doubtful proposition) then obviously letting both die is the very worst choice. After all, we could turn the question around and say "if you learned two murderers were off to kill these people and you could only save one, which would you save?" and few people would have trouble thinking of SAVING somebody. Even if it's essentially the identical situation - saving one dooms the other to death. But sometimes you gotta break eggs to make an omlette; to refuse to take charge is to doom yourself to being the victim of life forever.
Having said that, I don't think you've provided enough information upon which to make a reasonable choice. A miserable life in the past is not guarantee of misery in the future. I can easily provide a number of accounts of people who desperately wanted to die at some point in their lives and later felt differently. Likewise, the presence or absence of friends or family is not much of an indicator, either. Our friendless victim might be days away from a cure for cancer that could save millions, or our victim with family might be hated by the entirety of it.
Thus all I've got is my own personal interest, choosing randomly, or going slightly off the board. I think the other considerations provided trump personal interest rather nicely, so I have trouble giving that much weight. I think I will evade the boundaries of a question a little bit and choose my friend for death. Being close to me, it's more likely I can find this killing agent and stop them from killing again and again and again. If I succeed, I will have allowed one murder to occur, but may be able to stop many more.
That seems like the best solution to me.
2007-03-24 17:52:10 · answer #2 · answered by Doctor Why 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Do you measure the worth of a person by how much pity they can evoke in others? Does a person with more pity deserve life more than someone who has less?
Do you consider questions in a vaccuum, derailed from any semblance of reality, such as these, to be valid moral question? Why isn't the person threatening to kill one or the other regarded as the one with the burden of morality?
Can morality apply via the use of force? is a forced good deed still virtuous? A forced evil deed still nefarious? then how does that explain the Nuremburg trials?
2007-03-24 16:27:44 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you don't decide, then God will decide. You have no right, yourself, to kill. Other infinitely merciful miracles, can occur in their favor. You are NOT in control of other people's lives.
Anyway, the question begins with an "if" and is far too hypothetical...for "real" consideration. There are higher forces than you and me, for running this universe. Sorry, if you did NOT appreciate the "terseness" of the reply ; it is meant to serve a higher purpose, hopefully, and NO OFFENSE IS INTENDED TO ANYBODY.
2007-03-24 16:04:35 · answer #4 · answered by Sam 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Obviously the one who is killing....and also miserable life would be of the friend who trusted you through every thich n thin of life and in return what you give? you killed him...is this a price for his true friendship or his good nature?
2007-03-24 15:55:09 · answer #5 · answered by Bobbii 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would let them both die.
It is not my place to judge the worth of others.
If I can't help what is happening then the resopnsibility is not mine.
Love and blessings Don
2007-03-24 17:29:34 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't murder people ever so I guess they both die of the Bird Flu
2007-03-24 16:12:04 · answer #7 · answered by hobo 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Answer is not to kill but teach to live.
2007-03-24 15:58:54 · answer #8 · answered by Sophist 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i dont kill people, even with these situations im not born with this nature, im not into this
2007-03-28 10:31:11 · answer #9 · answered by tutero_k 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i guess i would kill my friend. but only if he REALY wanted me too.
2007-03-24 16:20:21 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋