Is all life sacred?

[carolyne_drake]

 As a doctor, one might assume the answer is yes, but the reality is more complicated than that

Comments

[lucy_r2a]

Life is pretty well generally sacred. But hard decisions do sometimes have to be made.

[benedict_rta]

You need to borrow my file on Moral Mathematics. I have one!

But right now, it's loaned out.

[carolyne_drake]

To Addison, or Mostyn?

This is actually a question I pose to my students. I already know *my* answers. ;)

[benedict_rta]

Would you like a yes-no answer - or to frame that question again?

[carolyne_drake]

Answer Unclear - Try Again Later.

Sorry...you're not Addison.

It's a discussion question, not a binary result. ;)

[rta_mostyn]

I am rather fond of preserving my own life, and the lives of people I owe something to. Once it gets out of the territory of "self" or "friends" or "family" and other such duty-related areas, the sacredness of a given life gets a lot more fuzzy.

So it's just as well I'm not a doctor.

[cyndre_rta]

IC Answer: It doesn't matter whether life is sacred or not; it is worth preserving whenever possible. Some lives are more valuable than others, from a personal perspective.

OOC Answer: Life is not sacred. Death comes for us all, and uses many means that has nothing to do with any act on anyone else's part. This isn't divine, it just is.

* Ensuring the life of the many at the expense of the few isn't always the best choice to make, and won't always yield the most favorable outcome.

[servalle_rta]

This is a very interesting question, so please forgive me if I meander a bit in my response.
I am assuming, first, that by 'life' you mean 'sentient life' or at the very least 'animal life', since in one way or another all life is dependent on other life. Humanity, for example, would find itself very short-lived indeed if reduced to eating rocks.

So, we have thus circumscribed 'life' once, already. From here, it is a matter of degree.

If food animals are acceptable, and in fact delicious, then we draw the circle even smaller.

Now, we must consider what is meant by 'sacred'. Do we mean a respect for life? This is a trivial thing - only the naked psychotic will choose to kill without cause, flimsy as that cause may be. Does it, then, mean that we should preserve life? This is a common belief amongst those with the ability, directly or indirectly, to do so. However, does the ability to preserve life mandate the obligation to do so? What, then, of the paralysis of choice? It is trivial to imagine a situation where two lives are in

[carolyne_drake]

You, sir, get a cookie.

[servalle_rta]

Excellent. I prefer it be made from some sort of living thing.

It may be from outside your circle, if you wish.