My initial thought was that I would indeed take the money and let the other person die. But when I really look down into myself and think, I can't be rational about it. For me, this isn't an intellectual issue. If it were, I'd be joining nWoCHRISnWo and all the others enjoying a billion dollars.
But I can't see it as letting another person die. The question states that because I take the money, someone else dies. As a direct result of my actions, someone dies. I am in effect killing someone, and as much as I may take about being capable of killing, it is not something I ever want to do.
And moreover, the other person never asked for it. He or she is guilty of nothing.
I can understand on an intellectual level that the problem boils down to me choosing my own life or someone else's life, but at the gut level I don't see it that way. I have the feeling that if I were to take the money, I would feel for the rest of my life as if I had accepted a billion dollars to kill someone else. And remember, this question doesn't ask what you should do. It asks what you would.
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