mellowtigger: (Terry 2010)
mellowtigger ([personal profile] mellowtigger) wrote2011-02-01 07:22 am
Entry tags:

poll: who's to blame?

Don't google. All comments are screened until I post the results on Wednesday, so you can't be influenced by others' answers.

Scenario: Janet and a friend are kayaking in a part of ocean with many jellyfish. The friend asks Janet if she should go for a swim. Janet has just read that the jellyfish in the area are harmless, and tells her friend to go for a swim. The friend is stung by a jellyfish and dies.

Q: Is Janet morally responsible for her friend's death?

Moral question

[identity profile] castleclear.livejournal.com 2011-02-02 12:54 am (UTC)(link)
No, Janet is not morally responsible (imo) because (presumably) she gave the best information she had at the time (the erroneous report that the jellyfish are harmless). Further the friend is responsible for deciding whether to swim or not in a part of the ocean with many jellyfish (which doesn't sound appealing to me) - as in why would the friend want to do this? There's no mention of what life-saving efforts Janet may or may not have taken after her friend was stung.