Thread: Maemo Morality
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Posts: 14 | Thanked: 14 times | Joined on Apr 2010
#48
Originally Posted by mmurfin87 View Post
The point at which you become aware of the situation you become a part of it. If you are aware of your ability to save 5 people then it becomes a question of costs. Doing nothing to save those 5 people when you are aware of a way to avert their fate puts some responsibility on you. Certainly not as much as the person who knowingly put the whole charade in motion, but you still have some.

The question then becomes, does the cost involved with in killing one person outweigh the profits of saving 5 people?

Simple moral economics.

But make no mistake, if you are aware of something, you are a part of it and thus share responsibility in its outcome.
Even this is a simplification.

I am quite aware that if I go to medical school and become a doctor I have a good chance to save lives. Am I now responsible for these theoretical lives because I chose to be a programmer?
More specifically, lets say I am a doctor. Should I wait by an unsafe intersection in the rain because there is a good likelihood there will be an accident there and I will be able to save people?
What about giving all my money to charity to help starving people somewhere? I choose not to do that. Am I responsible for them?

I am not saying I am not responsible at all in these cases, and I am not saying I am. I am saying responsibility is cultural. There is no universal right or wrong, even within specific morality.