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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Vegepygmy" data-source="post: 4731197" data-attributes="member: 40109">Sorry, but that's just flat-out wrong.  See <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duress_in_English_law" target="_blank">here</a>: "Duress is no defence to murder, attempted murder, or treason involving the death of the sovereign... In cases where the choice is between the threat of death or serious injury and deliberately taking an innocent life, a reasonable man might reflect that one innocent human life is at least as valuable as his own or that of his loved one. In such a case a man cannot claim that he is choosing the lesser of two evils." That's because there is no "malice aforethought," not because one person's life is more valuable than another's.  In the lifeboat situation, there is no culpable mental state--no mens rea--that would make the act criminal. Correct.  Again, because there was no "malice aforethought." This is a very different situation than the "shoot a person to make room on a lifeboat" and "bash your fellow shipwreck survivor to avoid sharing water" examples hamishspence described.  In those situations, there is very clearly sufficient opportunity for the actor to reflect upon what he is about to do, and a decision to abandon the pursuit of alternative remedies.  In those situations, the act is performed with "malice aforethought," and the actor would be guilty of murder. You are not expected to die for others, but neither are they expected to die for you, and you have no right to weigh the relative value of two lives and make a decision as to which one shall prevail.  There is no "right to kill others" if that's the only way to save yourself, because who is to say that you have perceived the situation correctly?  Maybe there is another way to save yourself, but you haven't discovered it yet (in the shipwreck situation, perhaps, unbeknownst to you, a rescue ship will arrive before your shared water supply runs out...or maybe there's a natural spring somewhere on the island, but you haven't found it yet).</blockquote>

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