Ethical or Rikical?

Julie's been busy answering not as ethical as they could be ethical questions. I, too, found the questions a bit boring, so here's a list of 10 Rikical questions for consideration:

1. You suspect that someone you know has become a carrier for a deadly plague - a bit like Typhoid Mary. Mentioning this to the authorities is likely to lead to their permanent incarceration. Staying quiet could lead to many more people dying of plague. What do you do?



2. You find an abandoned suitcase. In the suitcase is a stash of white powder and a significant amount of money - say $100,000. There's also a loaded gun, and patches of a liquid that might be blood on the case. What do you do?



3. You find a kitten abandoned in a plastic bag in a rubbish dump. The kitten is weak and has a broken leg. It can be no more than 4 weeks old. You have no money spare for vetinary bills and food is scarce. What do you do?



4. There is a pond near where you live that is home to a very rare species of newt. Developers have guaranteed you and your family well paying jobs, but providing these jobs would require building a road through the pond. It would be nice to have the opportunity to work. What do you do?



5. Christmas has come, finding you very short of money. A young child you love (son or daughter, nephew or niece, etc) and who looks to you as their main provider has set their heart on a particular toy for christmas - a doll or a teddy bear. The toy is beyond your price range, but the shopkeeper offers to hire the toy out to you just for christmas day. What do you do?



6. You suspect that someone you love deeply (mother or father, husband, wife or partner, son or daughter, etc) has become a carrier for a deadly plague - a bit like Typhoid Mary. Mentioning this to the authorities is likely to lead to their permanent incarceration where you will never be able to hold or hug them again. Staying quiet could lead to many more people dying of plague. What do you do?



7. Your family has not eaten for the past 4 days and you have no money and nothing to sell for money to buy food. You find an abandoned suitcase. In the suitcase is a stash of white powder and a significant amount of money - say $100,000. There's also a loaded gun, and patches of a liquid that might be blood on the case. What do you do?



8. You find a 9 year old kid wandering in a rubbish dump. The child has a vacant look his/her eyes and will not communicate with you. S/He looks malnourished. You have no money spare for doctor's bills and food is scarce. What do you do?



9. There is a pond near where you live that is home to a very rare species of newt. Doctors have discovered that an enzyme produced by the newt's skin is a powerful anti-cancer drug. Someone you love desparately is dying of cancer and would be cured by this new treatment. But each treatment requires the sacrifice of a newt, which for its part will only breed in that one specific pond. Why should the newt live?



10. You are in great pain. A drug is available to lessen the pain, but taking it will shorten your life. What do you choose to do?

I'll offer up my answers to both readers of this blog tomorrow.