I see this in a similar way to Jake, but something he said is something I spent hours debating with a few people, all of which disagreed with me.
The point I am referring to is that killing 1 person to save many does not make the act of killing right.
From where I stand, actions aren't just actions on their own, we must consider motive, intention and consequences, as part of the Act, not as biproducts, this therefore in my opinion makes killing completely fine if you are saving more lives in sacrifice for one (or more). I realise that it would not be easy and something that I could do without hesitance, but I would hope that I would be able to carry something through like this, instead of trying to cover my own a*** and shirk the responsibility by saying "I didn't do anything", people who do this are doing something by not acting and they are in part responsible for the deaths of said people.
How I rank who I would kill for who is something very difficult to do - In an ideal world, human's would be objective and do what is best for the majority - But humans are no longer perfect (or they never were) and we have to take our emotions into account (even if we probably shouldnt).
I have no children, but if I did they would come first.
I have 2 sisters, they would be next.
I have 2 parents, they would be next.
I have a lot of family members, they rank next for me.
I have a lot of friends, how I rank them determines who I would kill to save who (interchanging with family members - My best friend vs. a 4th cousin twice removed who I have never met would be an easy choice).
I have a lot of teachers and peers, these would come next
Right - Now lets assume that is everyone I know, how would I rate the rest of society? First we look at the skills these people possess - Soldiers, Nurses, Teachers are all imperative to our society, I think we would be inclined to save these people over people who are let's say a shop clerk or something which is easily replaceable.
Then I think we look at how many people they make happy - So sports people, business owners, celebrities would probably rank above the common man for me, I would save David Beckham over a person that noone really knows, as he brings happiness to many.
After this it would be difficult as i'm not sure where I would go. Of course, we all hope nothing like this would ever happen, and it is largely hypothetical, but I think a lot of people would do the right thing and take a life to save one as opposed to backing off and living a Que Sera Sera life and just conceding that if they don't do anything, they can't take responsibility.