This was on the BBC website today for World Philosophy Day.
SHOULD WE KILL HEALTHY PEOPLE FOR THEIR ORGANS?
Suppose Bill is a healthy man without family or loved ones. Would it be ok painlessly to kill him if his organs would save five people, one of whom needs a heart, another a kidney, and so on? If not, why not?
Consider another case: you and six others are kidnapped, and the kidnapper somehow persuades you that if you shoot dead one of the other hostages, he will set the remaining five free, whereas if you do not, he will shoot all six. (Either way, he'll release you.)
If in this case you should kill one to save five, why not in the previous, organs case? If in this case too you have qualms, consider yet another: you're in the cab of a runaway tram and see five people tied to the track ahead. You have the option of sending the tram on to the track forking off to the left, on which only one person is tied. Surely you should send the tram left, killing one to save five.
But then why not kill Bill?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Beach walk
We all seem to be ill. Maria's dance showcase on Saturday evening was great but since then it has been downhill. Alison has been in bed...
-
It was touch and go whether I went to the allotment after a busy morning but I am very glad I made it, especially with the weather being so ... -
I've managed to locate the lost goal and sadly it is Kevin's. Sadly because after that penalty miss he really deserves to lose any g...
-
Thursday saw me travelling to London to attend a high powered teachers' conference addressed by all kinds of Govt advisors and specialis...
No comments:
Post a Comment