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So I'd be really curious to hear everyones take on this question of ethics...
Why is it wrong to kill someone?
I think we can all agree it is wrong (at least most of the time). But why, what about the act makes it wrong?
If the answer is suffering then is it right if it is done without causing suffering? Even if it is against someones will?
I have my own answer to this question but I really want to hear everyone else's.
@klez I had considered that, but then what about the case of someone who is a hermit, and has no friends? Those guys are fine to kill then?
My personal answer is that you must look at the happiness/suffering across all of time, with the intention of maximizing the area under the happiness curve to be technical.
So by that logic killing someone who has no friends would be wrong because you are depriving them of the future happiness they would have had if they were alive, presumably. However if that person is suffering and we know he will suffer for the rest of their lives it therefore would actually be more ethical to kill them.
So when I use that logic it seems to work well for all ethical situations I've considered. But I still want to hear other people's take.
@freemo another thing to consider: does the suffering person actually want to be killed? Could they be content with the fact they're suffering? Could it be that they don't see that as a sufficient reason to have their life ended (imagine someone refusing to be euthanized on religious grounds, for example).
@klez hmmm, interesting points...
@freemo
Suffering and unhappiness are not wrong or the measure of immorality.
They're both essential parts of the human experience. As a great man once said : life is suffering. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you something.
Certainly the choice to cause suffering is a different question, but I think it's also a different question than taking a person's life, which with incredibly rare exception is always wrong.
@freemo It's wrong to kill only because of subjective belief. Obviously there's a vast sea of murderers, tactical policemen, politicians, soldiers, etc. who believe that killing to get or keep whatever it is they want to get or keep is justified, maybe even "right."
Personally, I share the belief that we all have an inherent right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
@freemo I don't actually think killing a human animal is any more inherently wrong than killing any other kind of animal. I could also make the argument it's less wrong to kill a human, of which there are many many many, than a member of an endangered species.
We just get tetchy about the killing of humans because we happen to be humans. If we were some other species, we wouldn't think humans were so precious.
@freemo about suffering, the fact that you're causing suffering to people other than the one you're killing (i.e., their loved ones) should also be taken into account. Just something to think about. I don't have a full answer right now.