crouching_sin: (you'll be pleadin' while you're bleedin')
Here's a question for you all. It's something that I read a while back, and I'm interested in your answers. Anonymous is fine, if you want.

There are five patients in a hospital. All of them are dying due to complications with various organs. All of them will die within the next day or so if they don't get an organ transplant. Magic won't save any of them, incidentally, if you were hoping to use that.

A young backpacker comes into the hospital or a checkup. He has no relatives, and he is in excellent health. As it happens, you, the surgeon on duty, notice that he is a perfect match for all five of the patients.

Assuming the backpacker does not give consent, is it morally permissible to cut him up and transfer the organs to the other patients? These are not organs that the backpacker can live without, so he'll die if you do.

I'm interested to hear what you think.
Date/Time: 2015-03-11 01:38 (UTC)Posted by: [personal profile] conquersworlds
conquersworlds: (INQUIRE ✯ and who the hell asked you)
And that exempts the asker from criticism for posing it in the first place?
Date/Time: 2015-03-11 01:43 (UTC)Posted by: [personal profile] conquersworlds
conquersworlds: (WHY ✯ so i just stab her in the rear?)
...You know, my teachers are actually really bad examples for this, you might want to try using another rhetorical question to try to pointlessly assert yourself.
Date/Time: 2015-03-11 01:57 (UTC)Posted by: [personal profile] conquersworlds
conquersworlds: (LECTURE ✯ that's what she said)
Something like that.

I guess if you really want an answer to whatever went wrong with you today, it's obviously not morally permissible but that doesn't mean it's not an option. If a surgeon doesn't have consent to do it but is actually considering it anyway, I'm pretty sure morals are already so far off the table it's not even a point anymore.
Date/Time: 2015-03-11 02:04 (UTC)Posted by: [personal profile] conquersworlds
conquersworlds: (HMM ✯ that's some majora's mask shit)
It...depends, I think.
Date/Time: 2015-03-11 02:20 (UTC)Posted by: [personal profile] conquersworlds
conquersworlds: (INQUIRE ✯ and who the hell asked you)
There's someone I really want to see dead. If he were our backpacker, I wouldn't think twice.

Lesser considerations are how much I care about the five people whose organs are failing, or if they're random.
Date/Time: 2015-03-11 02:28 (UTC)Posted by: [personal profile] conquersworlds
conquersworlds: (CLEVER ✯ i'm ruler of shinonome high)
I'm pretty sure everyone thinks that about somebody.

[...Jinnai, I'm pretty sure they don't.]
Date/Time: 2015-03-11 02:34 (UTC)Posted by: [personal profile] conquersworlds
conquersworlds: (LECTURE ✯ that's what she said)
So. Are you going to share your thoughts on the matter or not?
Date/Time: 2015-03-11 02:41 (UTC)Posted by: [personal profile] conquersworlds
conquersworlds: (HMM ✯ that's some majora's mask shit)
How isn't that wrong, in your opinion? Because it spares five instead of one?
Date/Time: 2015-03-11 03:09 (UTC)Posted by: [personal profile] conquersworlds
conquersworlds: (INQUIRE ✯ and who the hell asked you)
...Do you want to point out where murder fits into the job description as well or just try again? Your choice.
Date/Time: 2015-03-11 03:13 (UTC)Posted by: [personal profile] conquersworlds
conquersworlds: (WHY ✯ so i just stab her in the rear?)
...I think the answer most people would give here is something like "Yes, because then you don't have a direct hand in the death."
Date/Time: 2015-03-11 03:18 (UTC)Posted by: [personal profile] conquersworlds
conquersworlds: (HMM ✯ that's some majora's mask shit)
Or they just have different priorities.

I don't think it really matters whether one is better or not, personally.
Date/Time: 2015-03-11 03:45 (UTC)Posted by: [personal profile] conquersworlds
conquersworlds: (CLEVER ✯ i'm ruler of shinonome high)
There's not much point in doing that, though - if people need to die then so be it.
Date/Time: 2015-03-11 03:59 (UTC)Posted by: [personal profile] conquersworlds
conquersworlds: (WIN ✯ conquered two nations by noon)
Most people don't have experience with it.

I still think there's too much wrong with the original question for it to pretend to be worthy of discussion, even as a thought experiment - but I'm curious about what sort of answers you've gotten.