the overcrowded lifeboat

Moral Dilemma: In 1842, a ship struck an iceberg and more than 30 survivors were crowded into a lifeboat intended to hold 7. As a storm threatened, it became obvious that the lifeboat would have to be lightened if anyone were to survive. The captain reasoned that the right thing to do in this situation was to force some individuals to go over the side and drown. Such an action, he reasoned, was not unjust to those thrown overboard, for they would have drowned anyway. If he did nothing, however, he would be responsible for the deaths of those whom he could have saved. Some people opposed the captain's decision. They claimed that if nothing were done and everyone died as a result, no one would be responsible for these deaths. On the other hand, if the captain attempted to save some, he could do so only by killing others and their deaths would be his responsibility; this would be worse than doing nothing and letting all die. The captain rejected this reasoning. Since the only possibility for rescue required great efforts of rowing, the captain decided that the weakest would have to be sacrificed. In this situation it would be absurd, he thought, to decide by drawing lots who should be thrown overboard. As it turned out, after days of hard rowing, the survivors were rescued and the captain was tried for his action. If you had been on the jury, how would you have decided?

I think the captain is completely guilty. He shouldn't be the one picking and choosing. He was the one who drove the the boat write into an ice berg. I mean there not tiny, you can see when an ice berg is coming, they don't just pop out of no where. I think this captain is ashamed from steering it write into an ice berg, so he wants to try and be the hero of the day. In fact, he's not being a hero, he shouldn't have picked and chose and just let the people die as a result from the storm. This captain should have stayed on the boat, to help the people considering he was the one who steered it into the ice berg. I think you can just man up and make the boat fit more than seven people. I mean I'm sure it can fit at least twelve people, tightly. This captain makes me really angry to think that he is superior to all of the people and can say who can live and who cannot. This really was not a fair way for people to die, he should have just kept all of the people on the boat, who ever fell off, fell off and he would not be in this position. If I was on the jury for this mains case, I would send him straight to jail.