When is it necessary to kill another being?

[Griffin]

What if a bacterium was discovered that could cure cancer. But before being processed to be able to cure cancer it is a terribly detrimental bacterium with the potential of creating a massive pandemic? In this admittedly obscure scenario which being would have a greater right to live, the humans that could be destroyed by the bacterium or the bacterium that could save countless lives?

Oooh, that's a real ball-buster of a question (I mean that in the best way possible ), and I'm a bit torn on this issue, myself.
On one side, it feels wrong to allow my fellow man to die for a potential advancement in medicine, even if it is one as groundbreaking as the cure for cancer. In the end, it would depend on how definite the cure would be. Once the cure for cancer is found, it will inevitably cure more lives than would be lost and "pay for itself" in the long run. I feel like a heartless bastard for typing that, but thems is the facts.
I'll revise my previous statement to it being case-to-case basis, though most of the time I would side with people.

 

[Galileo]

I think that too many people get away with killing another person because it was 'self defense'.
for example, if someone comes into your home armed with a knife and you have a gun, that does not give you the right to put a bullet in his brain.

If you are deliberately aiming to kill this person then that is murder, because there are several other places where you can shoot this person to enable you to escape from the situation.

Likewise, it does not give you the right to beat someone senseless if they come into your home. as far as I am concerned you have the right to protect yourslef, but that does not extend to actually hurting someone so badly that they get brain damage, which has happened in some cases.

as far as I'm concerned the only right to killing another human being that you have is if they are pointing a gun at you and therefore you have no choice but to shoot them dead before they shoot you dead.

 

[Neuropedia]

all of them pleased

 

[A Person]

all of them pleased

Even the murderers who are pleased when they kill? Or the masochists who are pleased with self destruction? Or the addicts who are pleased when they get their next fix?
I'm not trying to attack you. I'm just wanting to hear what you have to say.

 

[A Person]

I think that too many people get away with killing another person because it was 'self defense'.
for example, if someone comes into your home armed with a knife and you have a gun, that does not give you the right to put a bullet in his brain.

If you are deliberately aiming to kill this person then that is murder, because there are several other places where you can shoot this person to enable you to escape from the situation.

Likewise, it does not give you the right to beat someone senseless if they come into your home. as far as I am concerned you have the right to protect yourslef, but that does not extend to actually hurting someone so badly that they get brain damage, which has happened in some cases.

as far as I'm concerned the only right to killing another human being that you have is if they are pointing a gun at you and therefore you have no choice but to shoot them dead before they shoot you dead.

What about assisted suicide?

 

[bamf]

I don't believe in killing animals for sport, but for subsistence. Dominant society has become obsessed with controlling the natural world rather than existing with it. We see ourselves as separate and the environment as something to be fought against. I do not agree with this. We have the right to kill, eat, and use a cow the same way the cow has the right to eat the grass, but we've gone so far beyond that. As humans we need animal products for protection against the environment and for their calories, but we've made it our mission to subdue life on the planet so it exists within our parameters rather than us living within nature's parameters.

As for humans, I am a pacifist, but realize that violence can be used justifiably as a last resort. There is no sense in allowing another to kill/harm oneself, but there is also no sense in killing someone "threatening" when there are other means to subdue their violent intentions. Self-preservation is our mail goal, and rightly so, but I draw the line when it comes to harming and abusing others before all other routes are extinguished. I realize that is a very vague answer, but the question itself is so open-ended that countless contradictory situations make it hard to make a solid set of black/white rules to live by.

 

[Neuropedia]

i hate people
im just sick of caring about then

its ojay of you do thoug

 

[Galileo]

at about assisted suicide?
__

that's a totally different matter, considering the other person actually wants to die.

However like everything else I think it should be regulated. noone should be able to just sign up and be given a load of drugs to end their life. there must be a very good medical reason for why this person wants to die, a terminal illness that will result in a very painful death, for example.

I believe that euthanasia should be allowed, but it should be a decision that someone makes when they are of sound mind and not effected by their situation.

 

[A Person]

i hate people
im just sick of caring about then

its ojay of you do thoug

Please don't hate people. It's the people who are so easy to hate that desperately need love. Please learn to love those that you hate.

 

[Neuropedia]

okaym but just this once

 

[A Person]

okaym but just this once

More than once. As much as you are able. It is what this world needs.

 

[Griffin]

I think that too many people get away with killing another person because it was 'self defense'.
for example, if someone comes into your home armed with a knife and you have a gun, that does not give you the right to put a bullet in his brain.

If you are deliberately aiming to kill this person then that is murder, because there are several other places where you can shoot this person to enable you to escape from the situation.

Likewise, it does not give you the right to beat someone senseless if they come into your home. as far as I am concerned you have the right to protect yourslef, but that does not extend to actually hurting someone so badly that they get brain damage, which has happened in some cases.

as far as I'm concerned the only right to killing another human being that you have is if they are pointing a gun at you and therefore you have no choice but to shoot them dead before they shoot you dead.

I cannot say I have ever been put in this situation, so I can only speak hypothetically, but the overkill that some people practice in what I'll call "egregious self-defense" probably comes from a fight-or-flight kind of adrenaline rush that makes it hard to practice restraint.
I can see it being hard for me, just because if it ever does happen, it will be the first time for me.

 

[Oranguh]

Why do you, personally, require reason to kill? Why do you believe it is a heinous act to begin with? What made you come to this conclusion?
Many other animals are capable of killing their own species and others, including humans, without second thought.
What is this sanctity of life other than my personal convictions being expressed outwards?
I feel that I don't take the lives of certain living creatures because I want to. In other words, because I'm perhaps "programmed" to do so.
Personally* I feel that enveloping any other higher reason such as: ethics, morality, law, etc. Is merely a form of deception that is stacked upon the fact that I "want" to. The reason why I "want" this and not that is perhaps an interesting question in itself though.



*I really meant it when I said personally! :0 no flamey

 

[not sure]

I think that too many people get away with killing another person because it was 'self defense'.
for example, if someone comes into your home armed with a knife and you have a gun, that does not give you the right to put a bullet in his brain.

Not every place on earth has a reliable justice system. If someone comes into my home and attempts to kill me, I will kill them. I am not taking any chances that they will be coming back or sending their cronies to finish the job. I am very sorry that someone has to die but I will do my very best to make sure it isn't me. If the criminal can't deal with those terms then stay the hell out of my home.

 

[aerosol]

Please don't hate people. It's the people who are so easy to hate that desperately need love. Please learn to love those that you hate.

It's the opposite for me. The ones that are generally seen as "hated" (pedophiles, murderers etc) are easy for me to not hate. Everyone else hates them so I feel like I have to not hate them, for balance. Anyone with deep issues I don't hate because I have such an urge to try to make them feel/do better. And the more hated they are by the public, the more important my job becomes (to keep them from doing bad things again). I honestly don't understand heavy crimes like that, so it's difficult for me to judge.
I mean I judge their actions, but that's different from judging the person. If you've personally been affected by such people then I can understand a different type of philosphy towards them, so sorry if I offended anyone.

 

[aerosol]

It's okay to eat fish because they don't have any feelings

I'M WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO GET THIS REFERENCE

 

[Agapooka]

And I'm waiting for someone to address the idea of assumptions.

Nobody will get anywhere on this topic until they do so.

Read my first post in this thread (it's on the first page).

Assumptions about reality are at the base of what we consider to be acceptable or unacceptable.


Agapooka

 

[A Person]

Why do you, personally, require reason to kill? Why do you believe it is a heinous act to begin with? What made you come to this conclusion?
Many other animals are capable of killing their own species and others, including humans, without second thought.
What is this sanctity of life other than my personal convictions being expressed outwards?
I feel that I don't take the lives of certain living creatures because I want to. In other words, because I'm perhaps "programmed" to do so.
Personally* I feel that enveloping any other higher reason such as: ethics, morality, law, etc. Is merely a form of deception that is stacked upon the fact that I "want" to. The reason why I "want" this and not that is perhaps an interesting question in itself though.



*I really meant it when I said personally! :0 no flamey

I still have to do much more thinking on these questions mind you, but these are the only two times that I have concluded it necessary to kill. Please challenge me. Tell me if you agree or disagree and why. Like I've said before I only want to learn and I need everyone's opinion in order to do so:

-[FONT=&quot]It is necessary to kill if it is proven or provable to the majority of beings that in doing so and by no other means will prevent death.

-[/FONT][FONT=&quot]It is necessary to kill if it is proven or provable to the majority of beings that in doing so will save the lives of an amount of beings greater than that of the being or beings that will be killed.

I do not believe it is a heinous act if it is done out of necessity.

What made me come to this conclusion? By thinking long and hard and by asking questions.
[/FONT]

 

[A Person]

It's the opposite for me. The ones that are generally seen as "hated" (pedophiles, murderers etc) are easy for me to not hate. Everyone else hates them so I feel like I have to not hate them, for balance. Anyone with deep issues I don't hate because I have such an urge to try to make them feel/do better. And the more hated they are by the public, the more important my job becomes (to keep them from doing bad things again). I honestly don't understand heavy crimes like that, so it's difficult for me to judge.
I mean I judge their actions, but that's different from judging the person. If you've personally been affected by such people then I can understand a different type of philosphy towards them, so sorry if I offended anyone.

If this is how you truly feel then I strongly encourage you to try and teach people how achieve this mind set. It's very important that more people think like this.

 

[aerosol]

If this is how you truly feel then I strongly encourage you to try and teach people how achieve this mind set. It's very important that more people think like this.

Is it hard to believe someone thinks this way?

I do not think it can be taught. It has to do with how you instinctively see the world and that view is difficult to change. It's like changing someone's reality or something. People may try but they will eventually regress to whatever they initially held to be true.
You just either get it or you don't. It all kind of boils down to seeing the patterns in humanity and realizing that it's the same species and we all were born innocent. I hate the word "monster" for people because it's so ridiculous.