RE: An uncomfortable ethics question.
September 16, 2010 at 9:14 pm
(This post was last modified: September 16, 2010 at 9:15 pm by Watson.)
I would have to say I would sacrifice myself for those few strangers, for a variety of reasons, one of which I will admit as being somewhat selfish.
First is that one of those random strangers could be someone I know or love. If it turned out to be that way, I don't know how I'd live with myself knowing I lived and they died. That's the 'selfish' reason, so to speak.
The other reason is that I could not knowingly send anyone to their deaths unless I was willing to risk myself the same as them. Say I was the general of an army, I wouldn't send troops on 'suicide missions' that I myself would not undertake if need be. I would be a coward and a hypocrite to do so. So if the choice between me and a collection of strangers was offered to me, I could not feasibly sacrifice lives if I knew there was a way of avoiding it- even if that way meant that I had to die.
@theVOID- Dilemna not solved. It is not so easy as you make it sound in the heat of the moment.
First is that one of those random strangers could be someone I know or love. If it turned out to be that way, I don't know how I'd live with myself knowing I lived and they died. That's the 'selfish' reason, so to speak.
The other reason is that I could not knowingly send anyone to their deaths unless I was willing to risk myself the same as them. Say I was the general of an army, I wouldn't send troops on 'suicide missions' that I myself would not undertake if need be. I would be a coward and a hypocrite to do so. So if the choice between me and a collection of strangers was offered to me, I could not feasibly sacrifice lives if I knew there was a way of avoiding it- even if that way meant that I had to die.
@theVOID- Dilemna not solved. It is not so easy as you make it sound in the heat of the moment.
