Quote:
Originally posted by skier
We see this as the right thing, but would you do the same thing for another human being? I guess the difference is that a human can understands what he/she is going through at the time. I would find myself having a tough time justifying a mercy kill though.
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The difference is that we cannot judge human quality of life on physical disability alone. An animal with a significant physical disability could not survive in the wild. A human with significant physical disabilities can still be a productive member of society. It is much harder to judge the quality of life in the setting of severe brain damage(Terry Schiavo)
Given no chance of improvement, severely brain damaged individuals are not very different from severe physically damaged animals in that thier ability to survive independantly is gone. Would mercy killing in this setting be much different than the original poster's treatment of the vulture?
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For me there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have heart. There I travel, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length. And there I travel, looking, looking, ...breathlessly.
-Carlos Castaneda
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