Subject:
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Re: Don Quixote puts away his lance (was Re: McDonalds set
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Mon, 27 Sep 1999 20:19:38 GMT
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Viewed:
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1179 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Larry Pieniazek writes:
> Matthew Miller wrote:
> >
> > Larry Pieniazek <lar@voyager.net> wrote:
> > > Saving hapless bidders from being foolish may be fun, but it's not fun
> > > enough to compromise morals.
> >
> > Yes, it's a classic Kohlberg dilemma. [1] I think you can make a good
> > argument for _either_ response being the high moral ground, depending on
> > your framework of morality.
> >
> > 1. In Europe, a woman was near death from a very unusual kind of cancer. [2]
> > The doctors thought that one drug -- a form of radium discovered by a
> > druggist in the same town -- might save her life. The druggist paid $400
> > for the radium and charged $4,000 for a small dose of the drug. Heinz,
> > the sick woman's husband, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money
> > and tried every legal means, but he could only raise $2000, half of the
> > drug's selling price. Heinz pleaded with the druggist, explaining to him
> > that his wife was dying. He presented several options to the druggist:
> > sell the drug to Heinz at a cheaper price, let Heinz pay for the drug in
> > installments or let Heinz pay for it at a later date. But the druggist
> > said, "No, I discovered the drug and I¼m going to make money from it."
> > Heinz is now considering breaking into the drug store and stealing for
> > his wife.
> >
> > 2. Of course, "dying of cancer" is not the same as "ignorant people being
> > ripped of on eBay". But it's the same kind of problem.
>
> Weeeelllll... I know I'm walking into the same old debate as before!
>
> But it seems SO clear cut to me. In my opinion Heinz doesn't have the
> right to the drug. If this drug really truly is somehting Heinz is
> incapable of inventing for himself, it's not just or right to defraud
> the druggist from his due. The druggist presumably went to school for
> years to learn how to make it. This may be the only chance he has to
> recoup that investment.
Agreed. No moral situation here. (possibly an ethical one, but that's a
different debate, and this case doesn't have enough information to make an
ethical judgement). However, I'm fairly certain I can make a good case for
the druggist being a jerk. :)
James
http://www.shades-of-night.com/lego/
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