TOC Round 2: Murder is, in general, just.

I would first like to note that I do not actually believe my position and that I will be taking part in Devil's Advocacy. I will show through my arguments that murder is not only just in general, but any time it is committed. THE AFFIRMATIVE CASE VALUE: Relief of suffering; suffering is generally accepted as an awful phenomenon. The individual is hurt in some way, unjustly, and simple morality holds that relieving pain is a good, moral, just thing to do. VALUE CRITERION: Liberation from life; I will show how "murder", with all of its awful connotations, is in fact a righteous act of total liberation. AI. To live is to suffer. According to Daoism[1], Buddhism[1], Jainism[1], and Hinduism[2], life is but endless suffering. Judaism[3], Christianity[3, 4, 5], and Islam[4] hold similar beliefs. In life, there is nothing we can truly accomplish. There is nothing we can gain. There is nothing we can keep. Nothing in this life is worthwhile. Nothing here is valuable. In life, there is no real pleasure. We are simply manipulated by chemical hormones to percieve pleasure. Where from comes this pleasure? Not from some true accomplishment, but subsistence. The nervous system rewards itself for accomplishing food, shelter, and water[6], but even this reward is but a grand illusion. It is but a trick to keep one alive, to continue suffering. So, life is not good. Philosophers, religious and secular, have further noted that life is but perennial, inevitable suffering. The individual is subject to all sorts of external pressures and trauma that can be relatively worse than normal, but the individual is always suffering. We may adjust to it, but we're still suffering, seeking relief in everything, food, water, sleep, but finding no satisfaction, no relief. AII. Ending suffering is morally upright. The existence of suffering is inherently wrong. While it may motivate and cause a preference for a particular behaviour over another, the suffering is a pain and a burden. General morality holds that pain and suffering should be minimized. Elimination of suffering is an even greater step in moral goodness. AIII. To murder is to relieve life, and therefore to relieve suffering. To relieve suffering is generally an upright, righteous, moral, just thing to do. Therefore, the resution is affirmed. B. Syllogism 1. Life is Suffering. (Contention I) 2. To end suffering is morally good. (Contention II) 3. Something is just if and only if it is morally good. [7] 4. Murder always ends life. [8] 5. Murder always ends suffering. (Substitution, lines 1 and 4) 6. Murder is always morally good. (Substitution, lines 2 and 5) 7. Murder is always just. (Subsitution, lines 3 and 6) C. PRE-EMPTIVE ARGUMENTS My opponent may object that this liberation, an act of coercion is immoral due to its coerciveness. This is not so. Most individuals will not decide to kill themselves because of fear of death. Death is feared because of its abstraction, its ambiguity. I will explain why death is nothing to fear. There is no such thing as an afterlife. One's determination capability, also known as his soul, is entirely enclosed within a nervous system, which dies with the body. Therefore, there is nothing to lose and everything to gain. Suffering is eliminated, and a nirvana is achieved. In all cases, the individual benefits from this nirvana. My opponent may also argue that the individual shoud be free to make this decision for himself, but to allow free choice would be immoral. To leave a bunch of individuals helpless and ignorant in their suffering would also be irresponsible. Because the relief of suffering is moral and just, murder, voluntary or not, is just. Further, no objection can deny my syllogism. It is undeniable. Murder is just. The resolution is affirmed. [1] http://www.meaningsoflife.com... and http://www.thebigview.com... [2] http://www.hinduwebsite.com... [3] http://www.westchesteruu.org... (suffering is part of life because of original sin) [4] http://www.associatedcontent.com... [5] See Ecclesiastes. [6] http://www.addictionscience.net... [7] http://www.merriam-webster.com... [8] http://dictionary.reference.com...