Philosophical Vegan Forum

Great reply, Energy.

It could be useful to explain here why and how social contract differs from morality.

Yes, people who break the law must be punished for it, or the law has no meaning- but that's a social issue, not a moral one.

In some cases, something happens where the law is so at odds with morality that we see the law needs to change.

From a moral perspective, things aren't as simple, which you did a good job of explaining.

@Viktorius_the_Third
On top of what thebestofenergy said, I think you misunderstood me. I did not mean to say that you don't need to punish someone if only his intentions were good. I think in many other cases it is the right choice to make. The point is that she wasn't aware of the fact that her actions would lead to this tragedy. I think you can't be hold responsible for something you did without being conscious of it. The examples you gave were of course on purpose and conscious decisions. The damage is known at the moment on and before committing those actions, and therefore need further evaluation (which thebestofenergy did).

Let's put it into another perspective. Let's say an old man is donating a lot of money to an organization he thinks have the best intentions. He did research on the organization and thinks he's right in donating to them, because they claim to help poor people in Africa. Later it turns out that he's been ripped off, and the organization was actually a criminal one that caused many deaths and pain onto people. The old man is of course partly morally responsible, but he wasn't aware of this fact. So do you think it's right to punish him because of his contribution? You have to ask yourself what the consequences are. It seems to me it's only causing more suffering in the world, wasted money of governmental expense, and the man isn't going to learn a thing because of the punishment. The same is true for the women that saved the ducks.

Ehm guys? We are talking about the law and why she should be punished. not which moral issues we have... at least that was, what i was talking about.

I have many issues with the law. I think most of them are injust, stupid or cruel!
BUT i've come to the conclusion, that humans are stupid! and we need laws to get a grip! I will still break a law, if i think its the right thing to do, but im also aware of the consequences!

So my decision still stands:
time in prison!

if we are talking about the morals only, and the question if she should be punished is erased, then ill tell you my opinion.

she had to react fast. which makes rational thinking nearly impossible.
BUT she was pulling the breaks on a HIGHWAY! (i guess its... 100mph? (in germany its limitless))
if she could have had a rational thinkingprocess before deciding, then she should have not pulled the breaks! she should have tried to get on the far right lane, stop there and get out of the car helping them by foot! but parking a car on a highway is stupid!

Viktorius_the_Third wrote:Ehm guys? We are talking about the law and why she should be punished. not which moral issues we have... at least that was, what i was talking about.

No, you asked what was the morally right option for us in a scenario we could choose. And you also asked what we would've done.
That's not related to law.

Viktorius_the_Third wrote:If the intentions are right, can i rob a bank and give the money to poor people?

Are you asking these questions regarding the law? Because if so, the answer is obviously no, you cannot. It's not for us to choose, it's not something doubtful. The law is already established.

Viktorius_the_Third wrote:she had to react fast. which makes rational thinking nearly impossible.
BUT she was pulling the breaks on a HIGHWAY! (i guess its... 100mph? (in germany its limitless))
if she could have had a rational thinkingprocess before deciding, then she should have not pulled the breaks! she should have tried to get on the far right lane, stop there and get out of the car helping them by foot! but parking a car on a highway is stupid!

And what will jail settle? If she knows she did something stupid, she realised that she was responsible for the death of other people, and she understood her error (so she'll never do such a thing again), what's the moral justification to put her in prison? Vengeance?

Volenta wrote:@klonoa
That's the 'no' option then, right?

***

I'm interested to hear from the people that voted for the second option—except for Viktorius_the_Third, which has been discussed already (kind of).

Yeah i guess. Moments like these make me appreciate i'm not a judge.
Looking back now, i'd settle for a light punishment though.