Ethics

If there is a hypothetical situation where you have to kill someone to save another's life, what would be the ethical thing to do?

Comments

Much depends of how these two lives are causally connected: Why is killing the one necessary to saving the other?

One obvious connection is this: A is about to kill B and killing A is your only way of preventing this. In this sort of case, killing A is ordinarily justified (see answer to question 620) -- though there are obvious exceptions as when A's attempt to kill B is justified by the threat B poses to A or to some third party.

Another possible connection is that C happens to be in the way of your rescuing D. Perhaps C is blocking your approach to D or your approach, with D, to the hospital, and you cannot get C moved, at least not quickly enough, to accomplish your mission. In this sort of case, assuming C is not intentionally blocking your path to effect D's death, it would be wrong to kill C in order to save D's life. This prohibition, however, is presumably not absolute. So, if there are many people whose rescue C is innocently blocking then it is permissible to kill C in order to accomplish the rescue.

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