Eating other people in survival situations

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The discussion centers on the moral implications of cannibalism in extreme survival situations, such as being stranded at sea. Participants debate whether it is acceptable to eat another person if it means survival, with some arguing that desperation can override moral considerations. The conversation references historical cases, such as the wreck of the Medusa and the Essex, where individuals faced dire choices regarding cannibalism. Many express that, in life-or-death scenarios, the instinct to survive may lead to actions typically deemed immoral. The discussion also touches on the psychological aspects of starvation and the potential for moral reasoning to be compromised under extreme conditions. Ultimately, the thread raises complex questions about the value of life, moral obligations, and the nature of survival instincts.
  • #31
This goes back to being self serving or not. The only obligation you have is to a requirement for living - eating. This is all very human.. Saying most animals eat when they starve.
The act of choosing to overcome your bodies need for food by starving your self would ultimately prove to how strong your mind is or how weak your body is. If you allowed your friends/family to eat you then one could conclude that you were a "hero". You have no obligation to let them consume you and you certainly don't have to let your life fade away. You do have the choice to stay true to principle. If you are an individual who contemplates eating people or if you had vivid dreams of where you were given the choice to eat another person, you don’t not appear to share the same character values that I have.
There is no way to say weather that act is right or wrong because the act is satisfying one of the two needs that are necessary to survive - food and shelter. Since "food" is a bland word and it seems possible to survive by eating a fellow man then you are justified. But if your just having a taste, make it the brain.
 
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  • #32
as for "hero" thing... there was a real story I once read in some book. mother gives her under-5-years-old son a pack of cakes and says "share it with your brother like brothers do", he replies "how's that", and she explains "give him more, keep less to yourself". boy does not think a minute and returns the package, saying "you better give it to my brother".
 
  • #33
The hero is heroic precisely because he makes a non-obligatory self-sacrifice.
That is another dimension to human life than the dimension that has to do with what is morally obligatory or not (of course, acts of heroic self-sacrifice are morally permissible, which is not relevant in this context)

In particular, you cannot fault anyone for not being heroes.
Nor can you fault anyone for performing the sole act that seems to secure their own physical survival.
 
  • #34
Do you want an example of self-sacrifice under the most dire circumstances? Google on "Owen Coffin" and perhaps on the ship's name "Essex". The whale who precipitated the disaster was Mocha Dick, the inspiration for Melville's murderous white whale.
 
  • #35
arildno said:
The hero is heroic precisely because he makes a non-obligatory self-sacrifice.
That is another dimension to human life than the dimension that has to do with what is morally obligatory or not (of course, acts of heroic self-sacrifice are morally permissible, which is not relevant in this context)

In particular, you cannot fault anyone for not being heroes.
Nor can you fault anyone for performing the sole act that seems to secure their own physical survival.

The true hero of the team was found frozen in an ice cave just metres from the camp. We were hungry so we started to peel his parka from his rock hard long johns and blue skin. We found a pepper grinder and a nice bottle of Chianti in one of his pockets and a note that simply said "gutten apéritif" which means "good eats" in Luxembourgish.

Luxembourgish is the local language of Luxembourg. Its a form of German with a strong admixture of French. Its also known as Letzeburgesch but this designation seems heavily influenced by the Deutch.

The man in the frozen long johns is a hero because he prepared himself for a dinner where he might be the main course. He alleviated his team member's hesitations about eating him by leaving an "AOK" to their sense of moral inhibitions with one, final, truly selfless act. In fact, once the parka was off, they found that his long johns had a red checker pattern to them, like a French table clothe.
 
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  • #36
What if you are a selfish single person with no wife,children etc. and you are on a raft with a guy who has 10 children,is happily married and who runs a charity - wouldn't you have a moral obligation to let him eat you?
Personally, I would think: "I'll eat him and make up for it by becoming a better person than he was!"
 
  • #37
verdigris said:
Personally, I would think: "I'll eat him and make up for it by becoming a better person than he was!"

How? By having 2 wives and 20 children? :biggrin:
 
  • #38
Radou said:
"How? By having 2 wives and 20 children"

And by running two charities!
On second thoughts - I'd rather be dead!
 
  • #39
verdigris said:
Radou said:
"How? By having 2 wives and 20 children"

And by running two charities!
On second thoughts - I'd rather be dead!

You bet. :biggrin:
 
  • #40
If someone said I could eat them I would laugh in their face. Whom ever started this thread what was the intent of this thread? What judgement do you pass to us if we agreed to eat a man?
 
  • #41
There is no judgement - it is interesting to learn what point of view people have.And whether we are dealing with a question of morality or something more complicated.Does morality matter in a survival situation.I would think for a hindu who believes in karma it does but what about an atheist?
The root of this thread is whether or not there are circumstances that justify actions most people would normally consider to be morally unacceptable.Are people entitled to do anything they can to preserve their lives? And are some people's lives more valuable than others? What do we mean by placing value on a life?
 
  • #42
Did anybody Google "Owen Coffin" as I suggested? He was a cabin boy and he was on a lifeboat with his uncle the captain, and a number of others after Mocha Dick attacked and sunk the Essex. Traditionally these whaling expeditions were outfitted by Quakers out of the Nantucket area, and these crew members came from a very staid and moralistic society. In desperation, the starving crew members made a pact to draw lots to see who would agree to be shot to provide food for the others. Owen "won" the lottery, and refused to surrender the "honor" to anyone else. Another young boy "won" the lottery selecting the person to execute him and pleaded with Owen to swap places with him, and again Owen refused. He was shot, and the others ate him, although his uncle refused to, and only engaged in cannibalism when another crew member died of starvation. The survivors were eventually rescued, although with life-long consequences for all of them. The Google trail will lead you through a number of accounts of this tragedy. It's one thing to hypothesize about such a situation - it's another to read the accounts of upright, deeply religious men who lived through it.
 
  • #43
The opposite, cowardly type of person would have a bracelet made that claims the person wearing the bracelet has every disease known to mankind and is not fit for consumption.
 
  • #44
i want one now. do you know where can i buy it?
 
  • #45
Its an all right question.. I just don't like it because you could find a ball park number for the chances of a situation occurring where you would have such a conflict. I like statements more than questions.. Like daily human action and human response - My head sends a message for me to reach for my shoes then walk. Gotta go to work, got to get a job.
 
  • #46
whatta said:
i want one now. do you know where can i buy it?

You can always get a tattoo for the same effect. Like "Grade B" or "Tainted meat".

Another thing is no one on the lost and starving team will be using the popular exclaimations "eat me!" or "bite me!".:rolleyes:
 
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  • #47
not even one?
 

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