Would you kill another to save your own life?

Question

If I was being attacked, I honestly could not kill my attacker in self-defense, I would just feel guilty and ashamed. My peers find this impossible to understand. They say "How could you just let somebody kill you!" Is this unreasonable? Does anybody feel the same. Or am I just a big pansy?

Answer 1

This is a very interesting question.  And no matter what your opinion is, it is not right or wrong.  You may think you couldn't kill someone, and maybe this is true.  I probably couldn't either.  But the thing is, since we haven't been in this situation before, we probably don't know exactly how we would react.  A better question, or one to just think about, is would you kill another to save someone else's life?  And that my friend may be even harder to figure out.

Answer 2

depends on too many factors like a really going to die

Answer 3

If you were attacked by a bad guy, there is nothing else to do but to kill them.  It's not your fault, it is the attacker's, because he/she decided to kill you.

Answer 4

Absolutely

Answer 5

Though I am not sure I share your centiment, I believe I can understand your reasoning.

If you did kill them you would not be able to live with yourself so it would be better for you to allow yourself to be killed.

Answer 6

Yes, I would not enjoy it but I would do what I had to do. Each one of us has the right to defend our self and family.

Answer 7

You're being a pansy. If someone's killing you, you have no reason to be guilty.

Answer 8

no

Answer 9

i'd put up a good fight. if they threatened my life ith say a gun or knife or something then probably

Answer 10

if some one was trying too kill me....id don't think i would hesitate too stab them....but if it really happened i would most likely hesitate..but i would do it

u never really know until you are put in the situation

you will never know until it happens

but i think you would try at least  

Answer 11

It is easy to sit and answer these questions rationally with no gun or knife to us, but as the situation were unfolding a lot more factors would influence your decision.  I am not saying you would kill the perpetrator, but adrenaline and instinct can sometimes make us do things we never thought we would do.  If your life were being threatened, that would be a very strong motivational factor for the survival instinct to kick in.

Answer 12

I believe in a proportional response.  But if someone is out to kill me, then I am going to try my very best to kill them.  Now if someone is only out to 'hurt' me, then I will try my very best to 'hurt' them.  But if I accidentally kill them in the process, I (most likely) will not lose any sleep over it.

Answer 13

Don't worry. I feel the same way. I would not be able to kill someone to save my own life. To me, to kill someone to save your own life would be heartless and uncaring. I feel the same way. And by the way that is a good question. i loved answering this one. Thanks

Answer 14

im not sure

Answer 15

Though I would be saddened at the prospect of taking another life, in the case of self-defense, I believe it is justifiable if all alternate possibilities are exhasted.  This is ethically sound.  

In fact, self defense is about the only justifiable reason for taking another life.

Answer 16

I don't think you'd do that if you were actually faced with being killed by someone. You might freeze into paranoia and shock or fight with all your might to kill the other, or get away as much as possible. But the flight of fight response is genetically programmed in us, and if you couldn't get away, I think you would defend yourself and try to kill the other person who was attacking you.

In WWI the militaries in every country were having a hard time getting their soldiers to shoot the enemy. They would just simply fire into the air.. Then in WWII the US conditioned their soldiers to be killers, and they've been doing that since then.

But when your being directly threatened your adrenalin gets pumping and takes over then your reptilian brain kicks in, and you're not going to be thinking in terms of self sacrifice based on religious beliefs. WWI soldiers didn't want to attack and kill, but they weren't thinking in terms of being attacked, which is different. And not unless you're actually an advanced soul who has the consciousness that knows directly that death is an illusion because life is an illusion and the soul is eternal would you let someone kill you directly.

Answer 17

I dont think your INSTINCTIVE mind would leave YOU in control of YOU if you are being attaced. So if you are not timid by nature, you will certainly defend yourself.  

Answer 18

Well, I've never been in that situation, but I'm sure if there was some guy in my house with a knife trying to slice me up - I'd do all I could to keep him away from me. If I didn't need to kill him I wouldn't.

It doesn't mean you're a pansy, just your more compassionet and selfless than some, even for people that don't feel the same towards you.

Answer 19

If someone attacked me that does not necessarily mean I have to kill someone.  If it was a situation of them attacking me for reasons that are justifiable then perhaps I would accept my fate, but if it is because they wish to rape or murder me then I have no choice but to defend my self to the best of my abilities, if I let them kill me I am placing my life over others.  To let my assailant to live and go free I am condemning others to be hurt, because even though I have died, others may not be so lucky, they may have to suffer the greater consequence of having to live through their experiences, whereas I have the opportunity to die.

But if it was a situation of sacrificing my life for another than, I would not be able to put my life ahead of another, because I do not hold the right to see my life as more valuable than someone else's.  

Answer 20

If you were being attacked by someone with intent to kill and you had the means to retaliate and stop them, how could you not act, even if they ended up dead?  In fact if this does happen to you I'd advise you to kill rather than injure your attacker unless you want to be sued for unnecessary roughness, or something.