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.

@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.

@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.