posted on Nov, 20 2008 @ 04:03 PM
Four philosophical questions to make your brain hurt
It's World Philosophy Day - an opportunity to contemplate one's very existence and whether computer monitors really exist.
So, with World Philosophy Day upon us, here are some pesky arguments to apply your minds to:
1. 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?
The rest of the interesting article and questions.
news.bbc.co.uk...
Enjoy, i sure did
[edit on 20-11-2008 by rixhell]
Mod Edit: Fixed ALL CAPS TITLE
[edit on 11/20/08 by FredT]