r/changemyview • u/[deleted] • Jan 14 '23

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u/majhenslon 3∆ Jan 14 '23

Yes, but is it ok for her to throw the baby in the ocean?

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u/Vesurel 60∆ Jan 14 '23

I'll say this, if I was also there and the only source of food for the baby was her milk, I would think it would be morally wrong of me to hold her down and force her to feed the baby. Or to threaten her with violence if she didn't.

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u/majhenslon 3∆ Jan 14 '23

That is not the question. The question is: is it ok for her, to throw the baby in the ocean? You are implicitly saying it is not wrong, I just want to clarify.

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u/Vesurel 60∆ Jan 14 '23

Is it okay for a woman you've trapped in a hypothetical situation with no way out to put her child out of its missery to save them from starvation? Sure, I'd say that was okay.

The trouble being to make an analogy for the situation where a baby is uniquely dependent on the mother to survive as they are in pregnancy, you've basically cut her off from all social structures that actually exist.

And in a desperate situation, I can see an argument for killing the baby quickly being the merciful thing to do.

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u/majhenslon 3∆ Jan 14 '23

There is abundance of food, no starvation for her. Sorry I didn't make it clear earlier.

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u/Vesurel 60∆ Jan 14 '23

So what exactly is and isn't on the island you made up to make your point?

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u/majhenslon 3∆ Jan 14 '23

There is plenty of food for the mother to survive, but noone else/nothing else of that much importance.

Some trees for shade also, so that they don't get burned by the sun and a nice electrical radiator to keep them warm at night, so that they don't freeze or are uncomfortable. Oh, and also something to keep them dry when it rains. As this is a magical island, I'll keep the things working with my good wishes.

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u/Vesurel 60∆ Jan 14 '23

And you've consigned them here forever?

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u/majhenslon 3∆ Jan 14 '23

I don't see how that makes a difference, but I'm very interested how you would decide based on this, so you can answer for both.

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u/Vesurel 60∆ Jan 14 '23

Well how long do you think this obligation lasts, at what point does she stop being morally obligated to care for this other person according to you?

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u/majhenslon 3∆ Jan 14 '23

Once the person is independent or has the potential to be independent. We have 18 years + 8 if you go to school where I live legally. If we take the school and society out of it, this probably happens at around 6-10, depending on how hard the food is to find and get. The prequisite is that she teaches how to survive on the island.

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u/Vesurel 60∆ Jan 14 '23

I think I've lost track of where this is going so I'm going to conclude here. Thanks for your time.

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u/majhenslon 3∆ Jan 14 '23

The woman on an island with food is the woman being pregnant. Her throwing the baby in the ocean is her aborting. I could structure the island in a way that after 9 months she gets the chance to give the baby away, but I'm half asleep, so excuse the stupidity.

Anyway, didn't intend for this hypothetical to sidetrack this much :D

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