Choose :P

Defintions: Deadly Force: the United States Armed Forces defines deadly force as force with a substantial risk of causing death or serious bodily harm. (1) Victim: "someone or something which has been hurt, damaged or killed or has suffered, either because of the actions of someone or something else, or because of illness or chance" (2) Repeated Domestic Violence: "a pattern of interaction that includes the use of physical violence, coercion, intimidation, isolation, and/or emotional, economic, or sexual abuse by one intimate partner to maintain power and control over the other intimate partner. " (3) Domestic Abuse has been characterized to occur in several stages, the tension stage, the acting-out phase, reconciliation phase, and finally the calm phase. (4) Morally Permissible: permitted by the principles of or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong Syllogism: 1. The abuser has abused the victim 2. Because of this abuse psychologically the victim feels they are in constant imminent danger 3. Killing their abuser, thus, is an act of self-defense 4. Self-defense is morally permissible 5. Therefore, the victim killing the abuser is morally permissible Now to back up these points: Point 1) is presupposed by the resolution, the victim is being abused. Therefore, point 2) is where I shall begin. Point 2) abuse –> to always in imminent danger By definition, over a long period of time, a battered woman (or man) will most likely develop a condition known as Battered Person's Syndrome. This is a psychological condition which occurs from years of abuse, whether domestic or other. It is characterized by several symptoms, the abused believes the violence was their fault, the abused has an inability to place the responsibility for the violence elsewhere, the abused fears for his/her life and/or the lives of his/her children (if present), the abused has a irrational belief their abuser is omnipresent and omniscient. (Omnipresent is defined as being everywhere; omniscient is defined as all-knowing). The abused believes they cannot escape the abuse except through their death or the abusers death, and therefore, are in constant fear. (5) By definition, domestic abuse never ends, after the final phase "[t]he phases then restart and they become worse over time unless there is intervention. " (4). Now my opponent is probably going to say something along the lines of "why doesn't the victim call the police? " Because, psychologically they cannot do so. Domestic abuse nearly always leads to Battered Person's Syndrome, which is characterized by the 1) the belief their abuser knows all and is everywhere 2) a constant fear for their life and 3) a belief they cannot escape the abuse except through their death or their abusers death. The abused cannot seek help on their own simply because psychologically they believe that calling for help will lead to their own demise. Therefore, the abused has no choice but to act on their own and end the abuse. Point 3) Killing their abuser == self defense Self-defense is the right to protect one's person against some injury attempted by another. Let me now present a hypothetical situation. A person has been kidnapped. Their kidnapper continuously rapes and beats this person for several years causing tremendous pain and suffering. As such, this persons only escape is through killing their kidnapper. One day, the person somehow manages to kill their kidnapper and escapes. Was their action morally justified? I say yes, simply because their only means of escape was through killing their kidnapper. If they had stayed tremendous harm comes to them. A victim in an abusive relationship believes the only escape is through killing their spouse. A victim's only escape is through killing their abuser 1) they psychologically believe they are in constant danger and 2) their only escape from this danger is through killing their abuser. Point 4) self defense moral permissible The Doctrine of Double Effect, thought by Thomas Aquinas, states an action that has two effects, one good and one evil, may be morally permissible if it meets 4 criteria: " 1) that the action in itself from its very object be good or at least indifferent; 2) that the good effect and not the evil effect be intended; 3) that the good effect be not produced by means of the evil effect; 4) that there be a proportionately grave reason for permitting the evil effect" (6) In this case, self defense meets these 4 criteria and thus, it is a morally permissible action. Now I shall back up why this is: 1) The act of saving yourself from danger I would say is not morally wrong (the consequence is death, not the action) 2) The intent was for the victim to save him/herself. 3) The victim's life did not result from the abusers death as they would have continued to live if it was not for the abuse. 4) I would say this is a grave enough matter, domestic abuse, physical violence, saving him/herself. According to the Doctrine of Double Effect self-defense is morally permissible. Point 5) Conclusion Because the previous 4 points have been upheld, the conclusion is valid. It is morally permissible for the victim to kill the abuser. Sources: 1. . http://en.wikipedia.org... 2. . http://dictionary.cambridge.org... 3. . http://heinonline.org... 4. . http://www.webster.edu... 5. . http://en.wikipedia.org... 6. . http://plato.stanford.edu...