My musing and other: Moral Dilemma more thoughts

My musing and other: 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 ...

My musing and other: Moral Dilemma more thoughts

My musing and other: 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 ...

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. 

The Moral Dilemma

First the story. A group of children is playing on a railway track. There is also a disused track inter connected to this track nearby on which a lone child is playing. Let us also assume that you are at the junction of the track; when you noticed to your horror that a train was fast approaching the children who are still playing unaware of the catastrophe. Being at the track interchange junction you are in a position to change the course of the train to the unused track in time so that you are able to save all those in that track. But if you do so you may have to sacrifice the lone child who also is unaware of the approaching train. What should you do in this situation?

Should you let the train to proceed on its track and allow the children to be mowed down or should you change the track of the train forcing it to avoid the usual track and save that majority of children; mean while sacrificing the lone child on the disused track?

The immediate response to this dilemma would have been to divert the train so that maximum lives are rescued on the expense of one. It might be thought to be the most rational decision because; considering the number of lives saved you may even think that it is the one and only recourse available. But at the same time have you ever thought that the child who chose to play on the disused track had in fact made the right decision to play at a safe place?

The right thinking child’s life is being sacrificed for the sake of those who are ignorant and careless; who chose to play where the danger was?

This kind of situation arises every day in our lives. You can find it happening every where. It happens in your office and at home. It is there in politics and in society. It is the bane of democracy in a way where the majority rules the roost.  Many a time a minority is sacrificed for the sake of a majority. It is not at all important even if the opinion of the majority is all utter rubbish or that of the minority’s wise and far sighted. The child who wisely chose to play safe and selected the unused track is sacrificed for the sake of that foolish bunch and every body will happily go home. Not a tear will be shed for his sake.

In the opinion of the great critic Leo Velski Julian; he would not attempt to change the course of the train due to the following reason.

First of all the boys playing on the operational track might be fully aware of the risk they are taking in doing so and might be vigilant enough to any incoming trains and are prepared to save themselves at the nick of the time. On the other hand the boy who is playing on the disused track is sure that no train is expected on that track and might be oblivious of the incoming train even if it gives a siren. If the train is diverted that lone child will definitely die for it will never come to his mind that the train can come on the track on which he is playing.

More over that track was not in use may be because it was a faulty one and not safe for the train to run on it. Hence diversion of the train on to such a track not only will kill the lone child but also put the lives of all those traveling in the train in jeopardy. May be you might be inviting a larger catastrophe by diverting the train, in order to save a few lives.

Coming back to our situation the moral of the story as I said earlier is about the brute power of majority. May be that is why EM Foster the great essayist of yester years have named his essay about democracy as “Two cheers to Democracy”; because after all the bed rock of Democracy is the rule of majority over the minority, right or wrong.  

My musing and other: Twentyone years of Morning Walk

My musing and other: Twentyone years of Morning Walk: Come Jan 27 2012, I might be celebrating my 21 st anniversary of my usual morning walks. It all started in 1991 and till I discussed...

Twentyone years of Morning Walk

Come Jan 27 2012, I might be celebrating my 21^st anniversary of my usual morning walks. It all started in 1991 and till I discussed this with a young friend of mine who is a lecturer in a local college I did not realise that it is really quite a long period of time. Twenty one years of walking in the morning without any prolonged break! He could not believe it!

As a matter of fact, till he expressed it, I too did not feel that it is something I should be crowing about. After all twenty odd years of life for a person who is blissfully on the other side of sixty is only one third of his whole life span; when at the same time for a young man like my friend who might be on his early thirties or late twenties it is more than two third of his whole life. No wonder he was astounded by my not so great an achievement.

O Henry was my favourite author during my college days and when I read his thrilling short story “After twenty years” I too felt that twenty years (two decades) should be really a long period of time. Definitely it was, for a college going teenager like me at that time. When my friend exclaimed about my not that spectacular feat; suddenly I was on a time-machine travelling back to that period of time when all this started.

Hitting psychological forty has a peculiar feeling. In simple terms it is known as ‘mid-life crisis’. Turning 40 is one of the key psychological milestones of a person’s life. It is the time of evaluation; about whom they are and where they want to be going.

For me those were the days when nights were full of nightmares. You have growing up children; you have a job which is not offering any promise as far as the future was concerned. You have ideas and aspirations but you are afraid to make any bold decision because you don’t know how. Responsibilities are bogging you down. The day time worries turn out to be the night time nightmares.

Holidays turns out to be a bane rather than a boon as they provide opportunities for you to brood. Most of the time I felt very silly of me to think in these lines and because of this - this feeling of silliness- I was afraid to share my fears even with my wife.

I wonder; may be such were the occasions when people opt for a counselling couch. In fact I was really in a psychological bind and longed for a shrink to help me. Some where I read that aerobic exercises will help. I was not sure and did not know should I really give it a try.

In northern India winter adds on to your negative moods. During that period day breaks very late and night falls quite early providing a very small window of daytime; and this add to your negativity. I read somewhere recently that a study has revealed that lack of sunshine adds to your low moods.  Though I was not a teetotaller, alcohol never was an attraction.

27^th Jan 1991 was a Sunday and it was rather a gloomy and cold day; a day after another holiday-26^th January-when you are imprisoned at home because all roads in Delhi on that day leads to Rajpath; and if you are someone who is opting not to take that, gets virtually tied up in your house without any thing particular to do, as every shop every establishment everything will be closed celebrating the great day.

    

By evening I was on my foulest mood I ever been and did not know how to come out of it. In a spur of a moment I decided. Putting on my loafers I got out. The Roads were rather deserted during that time. The brisk walk took me to the large Agricultural University Campus which was close-by and I went on walking in the campus roads briskly for nearly an hour. When reached home socked with sweat I was totally in a different mood.

 Have you seen butter melting away when kept on a warm surface? My mental condition was just like that. I can feel my worries melting away exactly like that. I had a nice night sleep. Next day morning I was urged by my previous day’s experience to take to the road for another brisk walk.

Since then I have never looked back. Twenty one years of morning walks. Is it time for me to hang my boots?

No way.

I received this mail forwarded by a friendly group and  found the information very useful. Though I have not tested the veracity of the information; nevertheless I find no reason to disbelieve it.Hope my readers will appreciate this info and make use of it.

From M.V.Ramana Murthy ,   Incident 1 It happened few months back.  We were traveling and I and my family were waiting in the A/C waiting room at Secunderabad Station. The attached bathroom was not clean and was giving  bad smell. Added to this discomfiture, the bathroom door was not closing tight , and I also observed  that shutter was not closing tight because of faulty door closer. I complained to the attendant .  I also sent an SMS " The bathroom of A/C  waiting room on platform No 1 of Secunderbad Station is dirty and stinking. Pl arrange cleaning . Also the the door is not closing  properly". After few minutes we left the waiting room as our train arrival was announced. Within few minutes I received text reply from Railways,   giving an Id No and that action will be taken . After few hours I received a message that  the bathroom has been cleaned . After ten days I received another message that the faulty door has been repaired and thanking me.    Incident 2  Recently on 24 th October I and my wife were traveling by Hyderabd Ajmeer Express on our Rajasthan trip. Next day morning , I noticed there was no water in the bathroom and the taps are all dry, whereas our journey will continue and we will be reaching our destination ( Bhilwara near Ajmeer)  after another 18 hours. I was worried that it is going to be a miserable time to travel without water. Water or No water, people will continue to use the bathrooms and the stink will become unbearable. I complained to the Conductor. I also sent a SMS "Traveling in the A1 compartment of Hyderabad Ajmeer express train No 12720. No water in the bathrooms . Pl arrange. Also replace leaking valves else  problem repeats." Pat came the reply" Your reference id is 1110250019. For status visit www.scr.indianrailways.in. or SMS as STATUS<SPACE><id> TO 8121281212 . Thanks for registering complaint "  . After about 20 minutes I  received message that water will be filled at the  nearest Railway station having water filling facility. At Itarsi station water was filled and we had no problem . After about a week I received another message that the faulty valves have been replaced . It was amazing.   I am thankful to the Railway authorities for introducing a system where one can complain from a running train and doubly grateful that they have acknowledged the complaint and  attended. I collected this help line number from the Railway waiting room !   Many times while traveling by train  we are put to unexpected inconvenience , we react by cursing and criticizing. No other response. Of course once we reach our destination we just forget.  There is no use in cursing the darkness around you, do light a candle however small it be, it gives an inspiration and ten more candles will be lit . The process continues reducing the darkness. The Railway  Number to which you can SMS is   8121281212 . Please pass on this message to your friends and it may help some one in need including you .