Thursday, February 21, 2013

Morality


"Above 8000 meters is not a place where people can afford morality" (Krakauer, 253)

While reading this section of the book it did not even occur to me that the Japanese climbers should have stopped to save the Indian climbers. However, Claire's comment "He (Krakauer) is inviting us to make moral judgments" made me consider the other perspective. While this may sound cruel, "morality is the only luxury you have". With that being said, morality is a simple result of the context one is in. If a climber is 8000 meters in the air where one wrong step could result in tumbling down the mountain in an avalanche or being blown off the mountain in hurricane force winds, there is no moral responsibility to put yourself in danger to save another. Yes, if the opportunity seems reasonable one should help a fellow climber, but in this situation it is truly the Darwin principle at work: survival of the fittest. It is a climber’s responsibility to look out for themselves and know their limit when making that next ascent. 

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