Sanctity of Life

Sanctity of Life

This essay gives one person's opinion on several questions regarding life. Opinions to questions about which lives should be respected, and what the grounds are for determining the degree of respect will be given. Also, the reason why a certain life deserves respect over another will also be offered. Finally, examples of exceptions to the respect of life will be discussed, and the reasoning behind them.

On the question of what kind of life should be respected, an examination into several broad topics is required. Both humans and trees have life, but the differences between the types of lives help determine the degree of respect an entity deserves. The different topics that should be discussed are ones of self-consciousness, quality of life, and the general sanctity of life. All life deserves some respect, and killing with no substantial purpose can never be justified. In my opinion, the doctrine of the sanctity of life holds true, in that all life is valuable to a degree; however, there is a gradient of value that exists for all living things. A person's life definitely deserves more respect than that of a tree. Continuing on with the concept of this value gradient, a dog deserves more respect than a tree. A person's self-consciousness is much more developed than that of a dog, and we can safely say this by observing the actions of the species in question. Humans are aware of their existence and the fact that they are alive, and that someday they will die. This explains why people grieve for long amount of time at the loss of a loved one, but a dog will show temporary disappointment at the loss of a friend without understanding the finality of death. The death of a loved one will cause a person to think about the time when they too will die, but an entity such as a tree shows no sign of emotional distress.

In regards to human life, there are very few exceptions to the respect of life. When the existence of one life directly endangers the life of another, such as in the case of war or self-defense, death may be necessary to survive. I am not saying that war is acceptable; all means necessary must be employed to avoid it, but when it happens, lives are taken to save those of others.