Moral Dilemmas
- Thread starter Shycte
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I'd say the Captain did the only thing he could do. None of the options available were "morally right", but he did what was necessary to save as many lives as he could. I'm not sure I could have done the same. I definitely wouldn't have convicted him though, were I on that jury.
"Survival of the fittest" and "kill the few to save the many" are both two phrases that in some manner justify the captains actions.
If I were a member of said jury I would vote against his conviction.
I agree with "Agayek", "I'm not sure I could have done the same."
If I were a member of said jury I would vote against his conviction.
I agree with "Agayek", "I'm not sure I could have done the same."
I'm not sure it's a matter of survival of the fittest. It seems it gets thrown around a bit much these days.
Philosophically speaking the captains choice is rather utilitarian [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitarism]. A "simple" (1) matter of maximizing the sum of happiness for as many people as possible. It's not an easy decision to make but if the question is a matter of survival for none or for some then it makes sense to do as he did.
The trick is, for making a decision from those motives he has to be damn sure that there are no other options. He would be in a pickle if they had been picked up 2 hours later. A utilitarian approach can be useful but only under very specific circumstances and it has nothing to with 'survival of the fittest'.
In this particular, with the hindsight we are blessed with, he made the right decision, no doubt.
(1): By simple I of course don't mean that it's an easy decision to make, just that from a utilitarian viewpoint it's straight forward.
Philosophically speaking the captains choice is rather utilitarian [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitarism]. A "simple" (1) matter of maximizing the sum of happiness for as many people as possible. It's not an easy decision to make but if the question is a matter of survival for none or for some then it makes sense to do as he did.
The trick is, for making a decision from those motives he has to be damn sure that there are no other options. He would be in a pickle if they had been picked up 2 hours later. A utilitarian approach can be useful but only under very specific circumstances and it has nothing to with 'survival of the fittest'.
In this particular, with the hindsight we are blessed with, he made the right decision, no doubt.
(1): By simple I of course don't mean that it's an easy decision to make, just that from a utilitarian viewpoint it's straight forward.
I'd call him innocent. It's the idea of killing few to save many. Same idea is presented in Watchmen.Shycte said:
Sister and girlfriend. My mum has lived much longer and experienced much more than her.Lexodus said:
Cat. I like cats (My family own for currently).NoMoreSanity said:
It was a lfe or death situation, I'd have done the same (or fed the chosen ones to the others to boost their rowing power)
Sister then. You can get another girlfriend and she has lived less longer than the mother. Others are still the same.Lexodus said:
Not guilty. Why?
Simply because 1 death to save 2 lives is simply better than 3 deaths. It goes in all situations 1,000 deaths to save 5,000 lives , 1,000,000 to save 6,000,000. I mean how could you even sentence some one or charge someone for making a good decision, some times I think that Moral and Ethical and all that bullshit get in the way of making good down to earth decisions. In today's court that wouldn't hold up because it's all hearsay.
Simply because 1 death to save 2 lives is simply better than 3 deaths. It goes in all situations 1,000 deaths to save 5,000 lives , 1,000,000 to save 6,000,000. I mean how could you even sentence some one or charge someone for making a good decision, some times I think that Moral and Ethical and all that bullshit get in the way of making good down to earth decisions. In today's court that wouldn't hold up because it's all hearsay.
If I did, I would regret my choice, but would probably still go for the sister. Or end up being indecisive and die from taking too long to think about this moral dilemma.Lexodus said: