Justice and the AMERICAN way

So I'm reading this book titled Justice right now. It's a pretty compelling book filled with various scenarios designed to make you question your own morals and your own definition of JUSTICE. There was a really interesting story about these group of sailors that got shipwrecked and were forced to survive on a lifeboat for several days. I'm sorry I forgot to mention that among the sailors was a young sickly cabin boy. So this cabin boy ends up drinking the seawater against the "strong" protests of his fellow wreck mates and becomes deadly ill. The sailors figuring that the boywas on his way to the golden gates decide to kill and eat him in order to survive long enough until help comes. So the book questions whether the sailors had the right to assume that the boy was going to die anyways and kill him for the good of all. Well....well if you think about it yes, I guess in the end they didn't really have the right to decide that it was the boy's time to go. But if I were a sailor on a lifeboat without any food or water...and the other passenger was a small sickly boy or girl...I guess my survival instincts would kick in and I would totally sashimi that bitch