Does betrayal require intent?If you're acting in what you genuinely believe to be the best interests of someone or something, then is unintentionally betraying their trust and causing harm a "mistake" rather than a true "betrayal"?
>>17268510If you knew that it would break a promise or transgress a boundary or fail to fulfill an expectation, then yes. You don't need to intend harm for the person to feel betrayed.
>>17270413>fail to fulfill an expectationThat sets the bar for "betrayal" ridiculously low, no?By that regard most people on this site have likely "betrayed" their parents with their very existence.
>>17268510yes, of course. You wouldn't say that a fuckup, even a collasal fuckup, is a "betrayal."Would you say that the sinking of the titanic was an act of sedition? No, because that would be retarded, which, incidentally, is the actual word you would use to describe the sinking of the titanic.Intent is the only thing that separates injurious accidents from betrayals. The intent to subvert or destroy is what transforms the former into the latter.
>>17270433Haven't they? And didn't their parents probably betray them too? Betrayals don't have to be emotionally devastating, they can also manifest in the form of death by a thousand cuts
>>17270442Would you even say that euthanizing something when they're starting to suffer, inevitably going to die painfully, but have yet to lose the will to live and are unable to consent, isn't betrayal since there's no intent to harm; only intent to relieve suffering?If it's something (or someone) that obviously trusts you not to kill them, but you do so anyway because you have more information than they do and want to prevent them extraordinary pain, is it betrayal?
>>17271797I wouldn't know. I have a special form that says if I am in a vegative state for over x amount of time to pull the plug. Why people don't plan for these situations is beyond me.
>>17271797You are going against their consent so yes it is a betrayal.
>>17271797Betrayal is not necessarily intent with respect to harm. It is intent with respect to a reasonable expectation of another.If someone was in agony and on their death bed and said "please shoot me," and you proceeded to shoot them, that is absolutely NOT betrayal in any since, even though it brought harm to the person (getting shot). However, if someone is in agony on their death bed and says "Please, whatever you do, don't kill me! I want to live!" and then you shot them anyway, that is a betrayal, because that person had a reasonable expectation that you would honor their request and not kill them.
>>17271940But you didn't answer for the scenario provided; a pet (or a person) is unaware their condition will get even worse, and can't consent or refuse either way. Is that betrayal? If you put down your pet who has a chest tumor that's starting to impact their breathing, can't be removed, and will only get worse, are you betraying them?
>>17272036A reasonable expectation can, and often is, implied. An animal wordlessly trusting you as their owner is exactly the same as the man on his death bed pleading with you not to kill him. Putting down an animal is always a betrayal to the animal because it was explicitly your intent to subvert their expectations, even if you believe that such subversion was ultimately for the best.
>>17272069>it was explicitly your intent to subvert their expectations,What if you didn't consider their expectations of death given you were focused on preventing their further suffering?Do you think companion animals should be betrayed in the end, or forced to die slowly and painfully?
>>17272089>What if you didn't consider their expectations of death given you were focused on preventing their further suffering?You knew or should have known of their trust in you, and you recklessly disregarded that trust when you put them down.>Do you think companion animals should be betrayed in the end, or forced to die slowly and painfully?betrayal in and of itself is not necessarily a good or bad thing. It's just the process of intentionally defying an expectation founded on trust. If a dictator trusted you to execute a whole bunch of innocent people and you didn't, you have betrayed that dictator, but it is a good thing that you did so.I personally think it's better to put down animals than force them to live in agony. I know how bad pets can get at the end of their life, and I hate seeing them go through that. But I won't try and rationalize the idea that somehow I'm actually not betraying them when I put them to sleep. I am. I just think it's in their own best interest that I do so.
>>17272131Understood. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
>>17268510If you're knowingly acting against expectations and known desires you can absolutely be accused of betrayal no matter how benign your intent.
