Does the Struggle for survival justify killing?

[Guest Jar Jar D'oh!]

Hey guys, this is sort of the conclusion 2 of my previous topics led me to, if you've participated in them you'll realize that this was the most recurring argument people gave to justify eating meat.

Begin!

[CkyBlue]

There isn't a proper answer for that; you cannot answer a question like that with absolute certainty. I hope this thread doesn't lead to generalizations- to me, it clearly depends on the situation.

For example, killing an insane person who has already seriously wounded you, and has expressed a clear intention to kill you at that moment would probably be justified, because you can't really do anything about him.

But then again, if someone was ordered to kill an innocent person to save his own life from a hitman, some people would probably argue that's unjustified, because he might have alternatives.

[Guest Positron]

If we're talking about whether or not it's justified to kill an animal and eat it, so you could live, I'd say it's completely ok. But of course that is quite a bad argument for justifying eating meat nowadays, since none of us really has to do that in order to survive. I'm not a vegeterian, but I do see the ethical problems of eating meat. Which of course leads to the question of why don't I stop eating meat... I hate it when my own thoughts lead to a situation where I'm questioning myself But it's somehow so natural for us, we've always done it, so stopping to do it seams somehow diffucult. And anyways you could say that that's the way nature works, animals eat other animals. And yes, I know, those aren't really good arguments either, but you get my point. I think it's because as cavemen we ranked ourselves higher than animals, and because we've done it for so long, it has become a part of our culture. Because it is a part of our culture we don't want to stop it.

But if we're talking about a situation involving humans, it depends. I wouldn't judge someone who killed someone else on the battle field. But only if not having killed the other had lead to the persons own death. This is because if two people are trying to kill each other, you're only protecting yourself from a direct threat, which I think is ok. But if you get stuck on a deserted island with another person, it's not ok to kill the other one to save yourself, because that person does not impose a threat of any sort to you. Therefore if you killed the other person, you would place yourself above the person you killed, which is not ok. since were all equal as human beings. I'd say it's ok to place a human life above the life of, let's say, a cow / other animal, but one human isn't any more "valuable" than some other.

So, I'd conclude that it's definitely not black and white, and it depends. But if it's done to stop a direct threat (and the threat has to be imposed by the person you're about to kill) to your own/ someone elses life, it might be ok in my opinion, depending on the circumstances.

Edited February 25, 2012 by Positron

[funny10sport]

If we're talking about whether or not it's justified to kill an animal and eat it, so you could live, I'd say it's completely ok. But of course that is quite a bad argument for justifying eating meat nowadays, since none of us really has to do that in order to survive. I'm not a vegeterian, but I do see the ethical problems of eating meat. Which of course leads to the question of why don't I stop eating meat... I hate it when my own thoughts lead to a situation where I'm questioning myself But it's somehow so natural for us, we've always done it, so stopping to do it seams somehow diffucult. And anyways you could say that that's the way nature works, animals eat other animals. And yes, I know, those aren't really good arguments either, but you get my point. I think it's because as cavemen we ranked ourselves higher than animals, and because we've done it for so long, it has become a part of our culture. Because it is a part of our culture we don't want to stop it.

But if we're talking about a situation involving humans, it depends. I wouldn't judge someone who killed someone else on the battle field. But only if not having killed the other had lead to the persons own death. This is because if two people are trying to kill each other, you're only protecting yourself from a direct threat, which I think is ok. But if you get stuck on a deserted island with another person, it's not ok to kill the other one to save yourself, because that person does not impose a threat of any sort to you. Therefore if you killed the other person, you would place yourself above the person you killed, which not ok. since were all equal as human beings. I'd say it's ok to place a human life above the life of, let's say, a cow / other animal, but one human isn't any more "valuable" than some other.

So, I'd conclude that it's definitely not black and white, and it depends. But if it's done to stop a direct threat (and the threat has to be imposed by the person you're about to kill) to your own/ someone elses life, it might be ok in my opinion, depending on the circumstances.

Exactly! Depends with what we're killing here. The answer varies depending on the situation and circumstance I guess.

If we're talking about meat : It's food. Since way back, people have been killing animals to survive. Not to mention that meat is a significant source of protein, iron and plenty of other stuff which is good for your body! And sometimes, people just eat it because it TASTES GOOD. However, on the other hand there is also a cultural tension there too. In some religions, like in Sikhism (giving this example because half of my family are sihks), eating meat is not allowed. Everyone is a vegetarian because it is one of the commandements (something like that). Others don't want to eat because they want to save the animals. So I guess it depends on your own opinion.

People on the other hand...I would say no. To me, life is beautiful and I would never be able to kill someone. Not even that, I think that even if I did kill someone (for whatever reason, to protect, threatened etc) would leave a HUGE scar on me personally. Even if that person inflicted tremendous harm on people and deserves a death penalty, I still strongly believe in treatment and psychological therapy... Everyone deserves a second chance