PHIL-386 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Lifesaving
3 Jun 2020
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Someone whose hopes are often disappointed may cling to life as tenaciously as the happiest person in the world. If we are to make these judgements, we cannot escape appealing to our own independent beliefs about what sorts of things enrich or impoverish people"s lives. But, when this has been said, it should be emphasized that, when the question arises whether someone"s life is worth living at all, his own views will normally be evidence of an overwhelmingly powerful kind. Our assessments of what other p eople get out of their lives are so fallible that only a monster of self confidence would feel no qualms about correcting the judgement of the person whose life is in question. The upshot of this discussion is that one reason why it is wrong to kill is that it is wrong to destroy a life which is worth living.
