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Born on a Pirate Ship?

May 18, 2005 at 12:33 pm · Posted by matthew · Filed under philosophy

Again I must appeal to you wise and loyal yosefblogians (perk up your ears, Mr. Thuan) for ethical/philosophical clarification. Over lunch Jazmin and I had a heated discussion about when a captain might be morally bound to go down with his or her ship.

I am confounded because I see multiple directions in which we could explode this problematic question. How big must a ship be before this rule obtains, or does it apply equally to a dinghy as to a battle-cruiser? Does this apply to air, space, or star-ships? Do pirates follow this rule? … I’m in serious need of some deobfuscation. -MM

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rachel said,

May 18, 2005 @ 9:24 pm

In all the “captain must go down with his ship” references I have seen, the captain is, in fact, an actual “captain”, i.e. a naval officer, an intergallactic middle-manager, etc. The premise, it seems, is that he has been remiss his duty; a duty to which he was bound by a third party (there are those who will argue that G-d could be that third party, thus morally obligating the “captain”, but I would consider this argument to be the equivalent to comparing a school
honor code to the commandment not to lie. Most people in the general population are probably more likely to follow to honor code than to tell the truth, despite harsh repurcussions, just because some sort of omnipotent being wants them to.) Therefore, I would posit that, regardless of the size of the ship, anyone with the official title of captain (given by a government or other such beurocratic body) is morally obliged to handcuff himself to the mast or something…

Dovid said,

May 19, 2005 @ 3:59 pm

here’s what my google research took me to:

“Is a captain required by law to be the last person on a sinking ship?

No. There is no rule saying a captain must go down with his ship or even ensure the evacuation of everyone else before abandoning the ship himself. Captains and senior officers are generally
expected by custom to direct the evacuation of others before leaving the ship themselves, but even custom doesn’t require total self-sacrifice. A captain, however, IS often the last one off a floundering vessel, but the reason is generally economic. The captain wants to stay aboard to ensure that another vessel doesn’t try to claim the sinking ship as salvage.”

special thanks to http://www.uuu.org/fun%20facts.html

rachel said,

May 19, 2005 @ 10:19 pm

Why don’t you just suck all the romanticism out of it? Man, I hope I never have to go on a date with you…because it would be really creepy, for one thing…

Scooter said,

May 22, 2005 @ 8:41 pm

HASN’T ANYONE SEEN TITANIC! I MEAN IS CHIVALRY DEAD IN THIS COUNTRY! After that last scene where you know everyone was dying and all that somber music was playing and Leonardo Dicaprio didnt have enough room on that plank of wood (sob, sob, sniffle, snuffle, and a melodious clearing of the nasal passages) because he gave it up so his girl would be saved and therefore froze to death i thought that that scene definitely cleared up that little conundrum for me, but on second thought i definitely hear where youre coming from

Wilma Witherspoon said,

May 23, 2005 @ 3:05 pm

“sob, sob, sniffle, snuffle…” – You go sccoter girl!

Scooter said,

May 23, 2005 @ 8:17 pm

Yea shuddup and pass the kleenex Mrs. Flintstone

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