The murder of Tuvix, revisited

Welcome macaztec, and thank you for a thought out reply. It does start "fun"!While your counterarguments are swaying and well-formulated, and I feel for the loss of Tuvok and Neelix in this situation, I feel above all we must keep a clear and level head in discussion of ethics and rights. Your objection seems to stem from the idea that Tuvix and Neelix are alive still, so let me address that first.First of all, let's briefly consider the contention that Tuvok and Neelix are still alive. Let me ask a rhetorical question then - where are they? Their organs and synapses are nowhere to be found on the Voyager or the planet. From there it already follows they meet the physiological criteria of death, even if they can be "brought back" later. Indeed, what happened to them was not symbiosis but symbiogenesis. In order to reproduce with them, the orchid they were examining merged itself with them on a micro-cellular level. (1)(2) This was the offspring of the orchid and these individuals, not something holding Tuvok and Neelix hostage! Surely the presence of DNA, or even cells, of one individual in another is not evidence that first individual still lives and has rights - else, for example, we would have to consider the rights of the cells of your parents within you! I will not explore the implications of destroying the orchid's naturally reproduced offspring to not distract from the more salient points.After the transporter accident/the orchid's reproduction - while we feel sad for the loss of Tuvok and Neelix, we must realize they are at this time dead. Ethics must be considered in the present situation, not a hypothetical alternative. Let us be clear: even though they were brought back, they were physiologically and neurologically dead. Even though one could argue the outcome brought them back in some sense (whether resurrecting one that has been dead by re-arranging molecules and DNA is actually bringing them back is beyond this debate), it is my argument the procedure should not have been attempted in the first place because of its immorality and malicious nature. My opponent contends it was not malicious. Janeway may have had good intentions, but there is no greater malice than deliberating and then cold-bloodedly killing another person. In legal terms we can establish malice from the total disregard for the life and desires of Tuvix, Janeway being an actively malicious individual is not necessary. (3) We can sometimes make the argument that killing another should be done to prevent future deaths, to protect another, or as part of a justice system. This was none of the above; it rather violated the orchid's natural reproduction and sacrificed one individual to harness his DNA and cells. I would characterize Janeway's decision as muddled by emotion, overcome by a desire to have Tuvok and Neelix back, which tempted her - and tempts all of us - to act unethically. It is therefore she feels conflicted at the end of the episode, and not happy that she did the right thing and held on to her ethics, as we would expect if the decision had been fully justified in her mind and Tuvix had no value. (2) My opponent asks if I would have been more happy with the decision if Tuvix had not had time to establish himself as an individual on the ship. No, ethically I would not have been, but it would have been easier for me to understand individuals acting rashly in great emotion and panic. Watching Tuvix' friends of weeks turning on him murderously for his DNA, to bring back their old shipmates, however, was very painful.Let us now proceed to the question of "the needs of the few". This is indeed an interesting point. Interestingly, my opponent quotes Spock and Kirk both, who were at times highly at odds in the matter! Indeed, Kirk later returned the quote as "the needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many". (4) I feel Spock's quote is often taken out of context of saving his shipmates.There are many parallels to old Earth militaries which would lead you to expect Tuvix could be ordered to die outside of combat, although such barbarism is not practiced anymore. However, especially saliently, in "Measure of a Man" we establish that by resigning one's Starfleet commission one can be protected from such orders, in the parallel situation where lt. cmdr. Data's life was threatened to benefit "the many". This was not contested, but rather Data's sentience and capacity to resign. I would expect the same regard for civilians to be present on the Voyager.In Earth history, the benefit of the many vs. individual rights has been a very prominent theme, with notable lapses but an overall trend towards evolving and preserving individual rights. There is a good reason for this. Consider the moral obligations of suggesting murdering Tuvix to create individuals from his DNA and cells, outside of the scientific contest. If we accept this action, even in extenuating circumstances, we are reaching the broader conclusion that at times it is acceptable to destroy one individual to benefit others - from the example kindly provided in the comments of harvesting one living child's organs to benefit several more established individuals, we can surely see this is not a path we want to walk down. Utilitarianism and consequentialist ethics at times seem attractive on the surface, until we consider the implications of removing the sui generis value of sapient life has on larger society. (6) While a court might consider great leniency for Janeway because of extenuating circumstances, in ethics we cannot. We must find the right or wrong.If we establish that an individual's right to life can be sacrificed to benefit the many, we will have reached a conclusion that fundamentally undermines our ethics and valuation of individual life. Logically applying such a principle would have had Star Trek: Voyager play very differently, and so life itself. Surely that is not what my opponent is attempting to justify?(1) http://en.memory-alpha.org...(2) http://en.memory-alpha.org...(3) http://dictionary.law.com...(4) http://www.theobjectivestandard.com...(5) http://en.memory-alpha.org...(6) http://www.academia.edu...