RE: On morality: Death vs extreme suffering
January 27, 2010 at 5:36 pm
(This post was last modified: January 27, 2010 at 5:55 pm by Watson.)
I don't have enough time to read through each and every post here, but Ifigured I'd weigh in on the subject anyway.
Personally, I think it depends on what torture we're talking here, and what the ultimate outcome would be. Is the pain such that, when it is through the person will be left alive and capable of recovery? Or will it drive them into complete and utter madness, to a point where they can't function normally in society any longer? In that case, I think they'd be better off dying instantly than living like that.
Or, when the pain is done, will it be something that deteriorates their body to the point of uselessness? That is, will there mind and body be incapable of functioning any longer, and will they be left a vegetable? That's another scenario where I'm sure, if given the option, the person would rather die. Even if, in both of the above situations, they are lucky to be alive, it might be that it is time for them to go.
However, if the torture is something which can be overcome to a point, and where the person can be integrated back into normal life with only minor problems, or evn larger ones, then by all means that would be preferable to death. As it's clearly not their time, and they still have experiences which they are capable of understanding, there's no reason for the person to die just yet.
So, if given the option between the two? It would depend. If I let the people/person get tortured and I wound up with a bunch of schizophrenic, nonfunctioning vegetables or some such, I would certainly let the people/person die. But if the others could recover, then it may be that it's time for those other folks to die, and they can be thankful it will be painless.
EDIT: Basically, I'd rather be left with a few relatively normal people than a bunch of dead people.
Personally, I think it depends on what torture we're talking here, and what the ultimate outcome would be. Is the pain such that, when it is through the person will be left alive and capable of recovery? Or will it drive them into complete and utter madness, to a point where they can't function normally in society any longer? In that case, I think they'd be better off dying instantly than living like that.
Or, when the pain is done, will it be something that deteriorates their body to the point of uselessness? That is, will there mind and body be incapable of functioning any longer, and will they be left a vegetable? That's another scenario where I'm sure, if given the option, the person would rather die. Even if, in both of the above situations, they are lucky to be alive, it might be that it is time for them to go.
However, if the torture is something which can be overcome to a point, and where the person can be integrated back into normal life with only minor problems, or evn larger ones, then by all means that would be preferable to death. As it's clearly not their time, and they still have experiences which they are capable of understanding, there's no reason for the person to die just yet.
So, if given the option between the two? It would depend. If I let the people/person get tortured and I wound up with a bunch of schizophrenic, nonfunctioning vegetables or some such, I would certainly let the people/person die. But if the others could recover, then it may be that it's time for those other folks to die, and they can be thankful it will be painless.
EDIT: Basically, I'd rather be left with a few relatively normal people than a bunch of dead people.
