How About THIS Morals -Ethics Question? - Page 6

#51 08-30-2005, 01:10 PM

[ QUOTE ]
...off the wall like some of David's moral questions. ...

[/ QUOTE ]

My problem is that they usually aren't moral questions, they are subjective values questions. What one person values may differ.

The life of a man about to die in 12 nanoseconds or the life of your dog -- you decide the "moral" answer! Yawn.

FlFishOn · #52 08-30-2005, 01:23 PM

A young ocra whale is sick in the Seattle area. A multi-million dollar rescue effort is undertaken (funding is both privare and public). Mission success is nowhere near 100%, more likely the whale will die 25% of the time anyhow. The species will benefit from one more individual only in the tiniest way, orcas are doing just fine, thank you.

How many children's lives could have been saved/improved with this similar level of funding? When a society chooses to spend millions on a whale don't they also choose to not spend millions on our own species?

I was disgusted by this at every report.

#53 08-30-2005, 01:37 PM

[ QUOTE ]
A young ocra whale is sick in the Seattle area. A multi-million dollar rescue effort is undertaken (funding is both privare and public). Mission success is nowhere near 100%, more likely the whale will die 25% of the time anyhow. The species will benefit from one more individual only in the tiniest way, orcas are doing just fine, thank you.

How many children's lives could have been saved/improved with this similar level of funding? When a society chooses to spend millions on a whale don't they also choose to not spend millions on our own species?

I was disgusted by this at every report.

[/ QUOTE ]

You are playing into Sklansky's hands. If the money for an orca rescue is voluntarily provided for, then its their choice what they want to contribute to. I agree that millions for an orca seems excessive in light of other pressing concerns. So what's your cutoff value? If someone spent $5 to save a whale, isn't the same argument that they could have better spent $5 on a homeless child? For that matter, forget the orca rescue. Couldn't the $5 you spent on a movie last night have gone to starving children? Should every dollar spent beyond mere subsistence be given to charity? Where do we draw the line?

Scotch78 · #54 08-30-2005, 01:41 PM

Pretty much everyone seems to be assuming that human life is more valuable than non-human life, yet that is a very difficult premise to support. We would certainly like to believe its truth, but it is not a particularly logical assumption to maintain.

Scott

#55 08-30-2005, 01:42 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Pretty much everyone seems to be assuming that human life is more valuable than non-human life, yet that is a very difficult premise to support. We would certainly like to believe its truth, but it is not a particularly logical assumption to maintain.

Scott

[/ QUOTE ]

The audience is biased, however. They are all humans after all.

Lestat · #56 08-30-2005, 02:11 PM

It is possible to possess a living creature with feelings. I don't see any logical inconsistency between the two posts I made.

#57 08-30-2005, 02:21 PM

[ QUOTE ]
It is possible to possess a living creature with feelings. I don't see any logical inconsistency between the two posts I made.

[/ QUOTE ]

Okay, then is it possible to possess a Rolex watch with feelings?

QED.

djj6835 · #58 08-30-2005, 02:23 PM

[ QUOTE ]
A collie is a possession. Granted, its a possession you can grow to love, but still a possession. Choosing to save your collie is on the same moral plane as choosing to save your Rolex.

[/ QUOTE ]
This is just completely incorrect.

djj6835 · #59 08-30-2005, 02:27 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I think the choice would be more difficult for me if I had to choose between my brother dying and an unknown person from the world dying. It would be more difficult because my brother dying would cause me a lot more suffering than my dog (who I love very much) dying. But I can't come up with a good reason as to why it would be correct to kill the unknown person rather than my brother.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is your brother a good person? If so I think that is reason enough to save your brother. Assuming the other person could be anybody, they could be a teacher or they could be a serial rapist. I would much rather choose to save the person that I know is a valued member of society regardless of whether or not he is your brother.

Macedon · #60 08-30-2005, 02:33 PM

Didn't read any of the reponses. The question is too easy. The old man must be saved if your value system are rational and based on humanistic principles.

Anything less would be reflective of a sub-human philosophy, a bizarre (illogical) religious/ideological belief, or some equally irrational value system.