Moral Dilemma more thoughts

When my blog on Moral Dilemma was published, my Friend Mr.Rajagopalan had sent me a write up which is really worth reading. Following is an edited version of it. So here is another take on Moral dilemma.

The article was originally dated 20^th November 2008. (World Philosophy day)

SHOULD WE KILL HEALTHY PEOPLE FOR THEIR ORGANS?

Consider this. Bill is a healthy man but an orphan; and without any loved ones. Now is it okay to kill him, of course painlessly, so that five others can be helped with his healthy organs? Yes? Or No? Definitely I believe that your answer will be an emphatic NO.

Another case: You were kidnapped along with another six people. The kidnapper keeps a proposal before you.  “If you shoot one of the six he will release the other five; If not he will kill all the six”.( In either case he will release you.) Here also you should kill one to save five; and this being the case and you decide to press the trigger to save the remaining five why not in the first case (the organ case) as well.

You still have qualms about killing Bill? You are still undecided as you were when you read the Railway track story in my Blog?

What was going through the minds of those Pilots of the aircrafts carrying ‘Little boy” and ‘Fat man’ while releasing them over Hiroshima and Nagasaki?  They may not have felt much compulsion in pressing the button. They were sure of approval of an all powerful Government capable of absolving them and a grateful people who could make heroes of them.

George Orwell in his ‘the lion and the Unicorn’ wrote thus.

“As I write this, highly civilized human beings are flying overhead, trying to kill me. They do not feel any enmity against me as an individual, nor I against them. They are only doing their duty… Most of them, I have no doubt, are kind hearted, law abiding men who would never dream of committing murder in private life, on the other hand, if one of them succeeds in blowing me to pieces with a well placed bomb, he will never sleep any the worse for it. He is serving his country which has the power to absolve him from evil”

The third scenario is not that uncommon. We have come across many a time situations in which a driver veering his vehicle one way to save a group of children and killing may be a lone pedestrian or a cyclist who was normally on the right path. His action may have taken place on reflex but even if he  was given enough time to think there might not have any change in the decision where a third choice other than doing nothing is nonexistent. That is he is driving a runaway cab and here too even thou it is not approved he need not fear condemnation. He can very well live with his conscience which will invent enough justification and even praise for his action.

Now if he was just a passenger of the car he also has a choice of doing nothing and in the process five people die instead of one. Even then he need not fear any condemnation. It will be difficult even for the kin of the five died to blame him for not acting or not taking the life of one person instead of the five died.

 If the five survived, you also have the approval of the five survivors and their kin and perhaps complimented based on a Chinese adage: “Who should do the difficult job; he who can”

 But if this selection is done by you alone, there will be lingering doubts about your unconscious prejudices which may have affected the selection. In such a scenario, the guilt feeling arising out of just leaving the six to their death (fate?) may not be greater. Guilt feelings arising out of omission may be preferable to that arising out of commission

The choice in the first case is far easier because sufficient scope for rationalization of your choice exists.

(i)                           How can you be certain that the organ transplant will save the lives?

(ii)                        Would the quality of life of the person after transplant justify the taking of a healthy life?

(iii)                       Will not cadaver organs be available if you wait?

(iv)                      Why you yourself are not prepared to donate a kidney or a denotable organ?

Let me wind up for the time being. Other challenging Philosophical questions shared by my friend  Mr. Rajagopalan; I shall discuss with you another time.

So kindly be generous with your honest comments and;

 Watch this space.