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[kaijyuu]

Is it moral to choose one person you value to live at the expense of two others you value less?

Morality isn't math. You can't put an objective value on people and compare them in order to determine who has the highest number.


That said, it depends entirely on the situation. If I have the choice between killing two people who are about to murder someone (doesn't matter what for, so long as it isn't self defense), or letting the murder take place, I'd take the former option. That's unlikely to ever happen though.

[kaijyuu]

I consider defending someone else to be just as justified (if not more) than self defense.

[kaijyuu]

That would qualify under vengeance, which I have no sympathy toward.

[Zrk2]

I cook children.

how far does that make me drop?

And what is this great crime you refer to?

As to cooking children we need to know how many to score you on the Hitler-centric (warning: 4chan link) evil rating scheme.

[Hanslanda]

I consider defending someone else to be just as justified (if not more) than self defense.

This. And if you don't, you're a pretty shitty person, to be quite honest. Just saying.

[Realmfighter]

Is it moral to choose one person you value to live at the expense of two others you value less?

If the one person has more value then the two combined then yes. Or course, how you define a persons value is up to you but I would assume that caring for someone raises their value in your eyes significantly.

[Hanslanda]

I cook children.

how far does that make me drop?

And what is this great crime you refer to?

As to cooking children we need to know how many to score you on the Hitler-centric evil rating scheme.

Just a friendly warning, you should probably mark that link as NSFW. Because 4chan.

[Zangi]

Value of human life is in the eye of the beholder and arbitrary.
Personally, I will always value my own and 'my interests' above that of a stranger. 
Like on a sliding scale:

Me/'My Interests' > 'Strangers' > 'Criminals'

Monkey Sphere was it?  I would act in my self interests more often then I would act for the sake of what could be defined as current societies/peers 'morale code'.

[Lagslayer]

Posting to watch.

[Zrk2]

I cook children.

how far does that make me drop?

And what is this great crime you refer to?

As to cooking children we need to know how many to score you on the Hitler-centric evil rating scheme.

Just a friendly warning, you should probably mark that link as NSFW. Because 4chan.

Good idea.

[Montague]

Do human beings have value in the sense that they should be preserved least value is lost? That is sort of a utilitarian idea, but it doesn't really mesh well with reality.

If human life had value, independent of other factors, then the banning of DDT was possibly the greatest crime in human history, millions of people have died from malaria and other tropical diseases as well as starvation because they no longer had an affordable pesticide. They justified banning it because it was harmful to birds and bees and whatnot.

So I don't think morality really boils down to some value placed on a person, but society as a system of laws determines the ACT of murder to be a punishable, undesirable thing, while neglect or accidents are weighed as less severe, even if the result is the same.

[pisskop]

What is the ultimate decider of humanities worth?  Quality of human life?  Progression of scientific knowledge?  Philosophical insight?

[Loud Whispers]

What is the ultimate decider of humanities worth?  Quality of human life?  Progression of scientific knowledge?  Philosophical insight?

For the individual, their place in the moral community.

[pisskop]

I would argue that collective knowledge and unification towards one goal is the ultimate expression of man.

[Zrk2]

I would argue that collective knowledge and unification towards one goal is the ultimate expression of man.

I would say the opposite. Humanity achieves it's greatest potential and morality when everyone is free to live as they please, instead of being shackled to some overarching goal that they had no choice in.