A person is pinned under a truck which is on fire and slowly roasting him to death. You are the only one there and he begs you put him out of his misery. The place is isolated and no help will arrive. What would you do? Pray for him as he slowly dies in excruciating pain? Or put him out of his misery as he requested?

valinors_sorrow

I can tell you that I drowned a kitten once on a similar basis (not my kitten) after a pittbull (not my dog) had gutted it beyond repair. We were all in shock. It didn't have long to live but it was something like a spontaneous reaction from me. I can tell you I was praying as I was killing and pretty darn hard too. It stayed with me for days afterwards and would periodically "reverberate" on me down the road. Very difficult decision. I seriously doubt I would have that kind of conviction with a person though. Whatever is said here, I contend that people don't know with certainty, until they are faced with extreme stuff, what they can or cannot do. Five minutes before I did that, I would have told you I was not capable of it.

RickJ

Boy, that would be a tough one. I'd feel more inclined to try to lift the truck - hoping I'd be blessed with superhuman strength (like we've heard examples of).

I just don't know what I'd do if that did not work.

Val makes an excellent point: What we think or say now, in the comfort of our home or office, may or may not be what we would do if we were in that horrible situation.

Curious: Starman, what do you think you'd do?

Krs

A very very tough one. I like how Val discribed and explained her story and its very true what she says about you say no now, but when you are in that situation is a different story.

ordinaryguy

It's about all I can do to work through the real moral dilemmas I encounter on a regular basis, so I don't have a lot of energy left for hypothetical ones. I hope never to have to make such a choice. I think Val's right that forethought about such things is probably irrelevant in any case.

Starman

I would put an end to his unecessary useless suffering in the name of compassion.


Hypotheticals could remedy vast energy expenditure when faced with moral choices issue. In fact, that's the reason such hypotheticals are included in all ethics curriculums is because dealing with them in a hypothetical beforehand prepares us better to handle them if they should suddenly arise. Otherwise we'd have to go through the whole gamut of pros and cons on the spot and perhaps even then remain in a quandary while the man screams in agony for our assistance in ending his pain. No, I am not saying that is what you should do. Each has his conscience. But we shouldn't be in a state of utter paralyzed confusion if such a situation--God forbid!--should ever arise.


BTW
Soldiers, medical doctors, lawyers, are all trained via hypotheticals so they can be prepared when the real situation arises. Lack of this training could lead to horrendous results--such as firing into a crowd of bystanders, killing someone on the operation table, or defending a client poorly in a court of law.

Thomas1970

In some odd way, at least for me, I think the decision would be easier if it were someone I knew well.
Over the years, I have had to have two gravely ill cats euthanized. Though I think about these decisions from time to time, never have I considered other than that I did the right thing. I felt I knew my animals well enough to make that decision for them at that point. And yet, I have brought injured wild animals to the Tufts University Wildlife Clinic, even when I knew there was probably little hope.
Though it goes against nearly all I believe in, if there was simply, absolutely nothing else I could humanly do, and there were a humane method of ending their agony, it would probably be the compassionate thing to do, as well as probably being something of an obligation as a human being.
Though I am absolutely 100% against abortion, the death penalty, etc. -- I do lean somewhat toward making a slight allowance for euthanasia in very extreme cases. Suffering can have a purpose, but only up to a point.
Though, particularly in the case of someone I did not know, I think it really is a decision one could really only make in the moment.
Either way, afterwards of course, I would pray for both of us.

valinors_sorrow

If I told more of the details of how the kitten incident occurred, it would become much clearer that I was directed to end its suffering by something or someone beyond me. All I did was not resist it but go with it instead. Does that still make me responsible? Oh indeed since those were my hands. But to answer Prissy's excellent 2x4 question, I believe all would be provided, just like it was with that poor kitten, to make it possible to do what is asked of you, if it is asked. I don't believe in coincidences unless you say that's God being anonymous. There is a certain feel to when you are riding the spiritual horse in the right direction, if you will, that I often recognise. If you would like the details of it, I will oblige but it is an upsetting story.

phillysteakandcheese

I think every human life is worth fighting for. Things may seem hopless on the first look, but many times things are not as bleak as they first appear, and miracles do happen.

The description provided still leaves a little room for saving the victim trapped under the truck...

If there is more than a few minutes, there's time to do a number of things that could save that person's life... They might be begging you to kill them to end the pain, but that doesn't mean with certainty that they cannot survive the event.

If the fire were so bad that the victim would certainly be killed within a minute or so anyways... it seems likely that by the time I collected myself enough to realize there was nothing I could do, they'd probably already be dead.

If that unique circumstance did come up though, I'd like to think that I would be able to end that person's suffering.

Starman

I'm interested in hearing on how the kitten incident occurred if you don't mind talking about it.