Villainous Aggressor Case Study

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In this essay, I will argue that it is permissible to kill a villainous aggressor, an innocent aggressor, and an innocent threat, but not an innocent bystander. According to Judith Jarvis Thompson, it is morally permissible for person A to kill person B in self-defense if and only if (1) B will kill A unless A kills B, and (2) if B kills A, the B will violate A’s right that B not kill A (Handout #16).
The villainous aggressor is someone who is intentionally trying to kill you and who is morally responsible for trying (Handout #16). An example of the villainous aggressor case is, you are hanging out doing your homework at a park minding your own business, all of a sudden a red car pulls into the parking lot of the park and notices you sitting at a table. He then starts to drive on the grass towards you. At first, you do not know who it is so you get up to avoid him from hitting you, but as he approaches you see that it is Vinny.
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One example of an innocent bystander would be the substitution of a bystander case. An evil villain has control of a train and the train is heading towards you. You do not have the means to stop the train but you can deflect it. If you deflect it, it would head towards a bystander named Betty, who would not be able to move in time and would end up dying. Another example of an innocent bystander case would be Use of a bystander case. An example of this case is, You are on the tracks of a train. A villain has control of the train and is again heading towards you. The only way to stop the train from coming towards you is to shoot a Bystander named Betty who is standing on the raised walkway above the tracks. If you shoot Betty she would fall on the train and the train would stop because she is extremely overweight and her weight would stop the train from going any

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