Interesting results.... not what I expected.

🎓 Doc Freemo :jpf: 🇳🇱  
Should we let someone die who is unwilling (but otherwise capable) of doing what is needed to stay alive?

@freemo I wasn't sure of the scope of your question, so I didn't answer. Suppose a paramedic refuses to provide lifesaving care to a person injured in a car crash, because the injured person was clearly at fault. In a sense, the paramedic "let someone die" who was "unwilling but otherwise capable" of following the rules of the road, which in this case is "what was needed to stay alive". That's quite a different situation from the decision to, say, force-feed a hunger striker.

@khird It was intentionally without scope, as I want to know what peoples general principles are in evaluating this in **any** scope.

That said I should have been clear that I am not considering if we should punish someone for **past** decision that they recognize is hurting them in the present.

I am talking about someone who makes a clear choice for their future on the assumption it is in their best interest but everyone else knows it will result in their death.

I was thinking in regard of homelessness as an example. If someone refuses to obtain skills and therefore cant afford to feed themselves should we feed them but force them to aquire skills. But then I wanted to apply this more generally... should we stop an alcoholic from drinking even if in the moment they think its what best for them.... etc.

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@freemo @khird example of not past decisions that you probably also didn't want to include: let's say that in a society with no social safety nets there is a person who can not support themselves other than by theft, but refuses to steal.

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