At 15:28 05-07-2002 -0500, Dan Minette wrote:

>Do you also believe that good and evil are just a matter of opinion?

IMO, sometimes it is a matter of opinion. I fail to see how someone could 
find it evil to run into a burning house to rescue someone, but there are 
cases where it depends on your beliefs. To use one of the most horrible 
examples from history: you and I (and any other reasonable person on this 
planet) believe the Holocaust was evil, but the Nazis believed it to be a 
good thing.

Other example. The plane I am piloting (with 100 people on board) 
experiences massive technical problems and is about to crash into downtown 
LA during rush hour. When it hits the ground, as many as a few thousand 
people could die. In an attempt to prevent that, I decide to change course 
and let the plane crash into the ocean, killing everyone on board. 
Essentially, it is *me* who decides that 100 people must die.

Is my decision evil because I willingly send 100 people to their deaths, or 
is my decision good because I save a few thousand lives by sacrificing 100 
lives?


Jeroen

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