I would like to present another hypothetical scenario designed to clarify one's moral intuitions and beliefs. Suppose that you are a doctor driving to a patient, a young mother who is about to give birth. It looks like she will need a caesarian section. It is late at night and you come across a car accident on the country road you are travelling on. Two cars are involved in the accident and both drivers are unconscious and have visible injuries. One of the men is the father of the child you are going to deliver, and the other man is very old. You do not know the extent of their injuries, but in your opinion, without immediate medical help, one or both may die. Which persons do you immediately attend to and why: the young mother, her husband, or the old man? After that, in which order would you attend to the others?

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ANARCHISM, the name given to a principle or theory of life and conduct under which society is conceived without government — harmony in such a society being obtained, not by submission to law, or by obedience to any authority, but by free agreements concluded between the various groups, territorial and professional, freely constituted for the sake of production and consumption, as also for the satisfaction of the infinite variety of needs and aspirations of a civilized being.
-Peter Kropotkin

The pregnant woman. She's done nothing wrong. The two blokes who had the prang must have been doing something stupid to have the prang.

The second person would be the husband. He's probably done something stupid to have the prang but his wife and his child depend on him.

Lastly the old bloke.

Sorry, my horrible utilitarian streak is coming out.

I'd tend to the old man first. I'd assume the younger man in better health than the old one, so could hold on longer while checking out the old man. And since I'm at a crash site... I'm assuming that the woman wasn't in the car, as that wasn't stated... I wouldn't pass the two injured men to go to the woman.

So it would be, old man, young man, woman. What does that mean?

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A poor fool indeed is he who adopts a manner of thinking for others! The Marquis de Sade

If I read it literally, I'd agree with Loathar's order, and basically for teh same reasons; best chance to save them all. The Ceasarean doesn't convey all that much urgency to me.

If its a proper choice though, divorced from the detail, I'd help with the birthing as both the child and mother must be in danger; or even if only the child is- tinged by more value being placed in the child- then the father, then the old man, basically based on age, though thats intertwined with the guy being a father really.

Read any Terry Pratchett? Theres a part where Death is attending a birthing that was unfortuantly brought on by the mother being kicked by a cow, and Death informs the Witch that is midwifing that she must choose between the mother and the child. Wouldn't mind that getting answered too tbh.

Plus Pratchett should be mentioned wherever possible.

I've made an obligation to serve with the pregnancy, it's that simple.

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So your driving to the womans house? I would stop by the accident and call for an ambulance then do a quick Dr.abc and wrap up anything thats bleeding. Then continue onto the womans house as planned.

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Collective? I'm sure thats easy when your not surrounded by a bunch of (*)(*)(*)(*)ing retards!!!

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The woman in my avatar is Cristina Scabbia and the woman in my profile picture is Tarja Turunen
Sun flames and moons glow, timeless the tides will flow, what will I face, what will be mine, fortune and fate the other side...

Public thanks to Catzmeow for enabling me to make my goal of half a million credits by Xmas.

I think that people are missing the point of this..

I apologize for that lack of clarity regarding the pregnant woman. It's a closed universe, so assume that you have equal opportunity to save the woman and baby, her husband, and the old man. I should have made that more clear. Also, assume that all have an equal opportunity for dying, but their risk of dying will increase if they are not treated immediately.

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ANARCHISM, the name given to a principle or theory of life and conduct under which society is conceived without government — harmony in such a society being obtained, not by submission to law, or by obedience to any authority, but by free agreements concluded between the various groups, territorial and professional, freely constituted for the sake of production and consumption, as also for the satisfaction of the infinite variety of needs and aspirations of a civilized being.
-Peter Kropotkin