Is "murder" always wrong?

Question

I was a little surprised by the number of people who seemed to advocate "murder is always wrong". Would you allow a terrorist to break into your house and kill you and your family because killing/murdering him was the only alternative? Those of you who answer "yes" -- please elaborate. Those of you who answer "no", please stop using "murder is always wrong" in such a generic fashion, as if it is always unquestionably the case (if you have done this).

Answer 1

First off, MURDER is a highly technical legal term.
It is defined as killing with Malice aforethought[1].
BY FAR not every killing is murder. Killing a terrorist who broke into your house is not murder, it is self-defense. Execution is not murder. Military casualties is not murder.

So if you ask "is KILLING always wrong" the it the answer is an obvious NO.

So now to come back to your question "is MURDER always wrong?"
I still agree with you and say that the answer is no.
The well known example is people who are lost at see. They know that if they just keep not eating all 3 will die, but if they will kill one, they 2 remaining ones have a much higher chance to survive by eating the corpse. In England these people would almost always be convicted of murder, but then immediately pardoned by the Queen.
See for instance "Dudley v. Stevens" case[2]
This is truly a case of a MURDER that is not wrong.

Answer 2

Murder, is often reserved as a term for immoral killing. Killing is more often distinguished as terminating life without specifying the moral circumstances. For example, I believe that the 10 commandments say "Thou shalt not murder", not "Thou shalt not kill". But who knows. Such a subtlety in translation across languages and over time, who knows what the original really meant.

For example, religious crusade throughout history, or abortion clinic terrorists, or war presidents that are devout Christians would not believe they are responsible for murder, rather they would claim it was just killing.

So if this is true, then by definition murder is always wrong, but killing is not necessarily wrong.

Some people believe killing is always murder. Some believe that sometimes it is justified and sometimes it isn't. And the law accounts for different degrees of wrong (involuntary manslaughter, killing during emotional stress, pre-meditated killing, etc.)

If you believe in absolute morality, then you have to pick a moral base (such as the law, a religion, your own personal code of rightousness) and then you can define right from wrong, and try to force others to submit to this morality.

If you believe in relative morality, you acknowledge that different groups and even individuals have their own morality, and you judge from within their moral system. This would make the same killing a rightous act in the name of one god, and an act of murder in the name of another.

Answer 3

Thank you for asking this question, because I learned from looking it up on the internet.

Although all murders are killings, all killings are not necessarily murders. Although "killing" someone is not always wrong under the law,, "murdering" someone is always wrong under the law. You may have the right to kill someone under certain circumstances, (for example as the last reasonable optin or resort when you are trying to defend yourself from being seriously injured or killed by an attacker), but you never have the legal right to "murder" someone. The difference is that "murder requires "malice". such as hiding and laying in wait for them to come by so you can kill them, or killing commited so you can do a crime (like rape or robbery, or whatever).

Answer 4

The problem is that you used the word "murder" instead of "killing". Murder is wrong, by definition. The word "murder" means "the unlawful killing of one human by another, especially with premeditated malice."

Killing is not always wrong. I would kill to protect another person -- especially my children. I would kill to protect myself because if I were dead, my children would not have a father. These examples are recognized by almost everyone (and almost all legal systems) as acceptable.

Some legal systems allow killing to prevent loss of property if the value is high.

Answer 5

I think everyone is capable of killing someone, just not everyone is ABLE to. I do not think of Self Defense as Murder. It`s Self Defense. I don`t quite understand how that can be an issue with some people. If I happen to kill someone trying to rob me or rape me or whatever, then would people call me a murderer? That is ridiculous

Answer 6

In Texas they have a saying,"he needed a killing". Well I think some people are definately taking up space on this planet, ie pedophiles, but, Legally speaking, murder is flat out wrong, killing is another story.

Answer 7

I often run outdoors alone and have given this much thought.

If someone attacks me, and kills me, they have murdered me and this is wrong. Why? Because I am innocent in the decision making process that went along with this series of events.

However, if they try to murder me, and I kill them with a counterattack defending my life, that is not wrong.

Answer 8

Sigh.

The only reason why you think murder is okay is because if you don't, then someone with a sharp stick will.

Should we disarm that person, or think about the conditions that made that person rationalize murder? Most definitely... if you're strong enough to have the distance to realize that you don't want to die.

Answer 9

Murder is wrong but killing is not wrong. EG the Bible says Thou shalt not murder, the word is not kill here. It's okay to defend yourself and to kill the enemy in war time. Oh, and capital punishment is ok too. It isn't murder.

Answer 10

Even the biblical commandment "Thou shalt not kill" more properly translated means something like "Thou shalt not kill a Hebrew."

I think most people who believe that killing is always wrong haven't thought about it that hard.

The law states that it is wrong to kill unless you believe that your life or the life of another person is in immediate danger. Unless the State does it, in which case, it's okay. I agree, for the most part.