Tuvix Was Murdered

"1. The merging of Tuvok and Neelix was unintentional [1]. Each believed they would be transporting to their ship as healthy, intact, and distinct individuals. Neither was aware of the possibility of merging, let alone willing participants of such a transformation. " Though this is true, it does not appear to contradict Tuvix's right to life. As an innocent, sentient, healthy being, who desired life it is clear he has a right to life. Star Trek is littered with references to the concept that of sentient rights. "Furthermore, following the eventual restoration to their former selves, neither man showed regret toward the separation or expressed a desire to be re-joined. Thus, it is clear that neither Tuvok nor Neelix wished to be or stay merged. " That may be true, however there was no realistic possibility of ascertaining the views of the two men. Tuvok followed an alien philosophical code, under his logic he may have deemed continued merger to be most logical. Neelix is noteworthy as a highly moral character he may not have been happy at the death of Tuvix to restore his own life. Though it may be true that neither men expressed a desire to be rejoined, this is not evidence that if they were able to ‘vote' for separation they would have done. "Therefore, Tuvix's refusal to restore the two men actively deprived two innocent and unwilling individuals of their rightful lives. The fact that he was self-aware does not negate his continued role in destroying the sentience of two others; his right to life ended when it necessarily entailed the death of his creators, each of whom possessed their own such right. " Tuvix was created by an accident, he was morally culpable for his creation nor for the destruction of Tuvok and Neelix as separate entities. As a sentient being he still possessed a right to life, the opportunity to survive is intrinsic to such a right. This was forcibly denied him. "To claim that Tuvix had the right to speak for those he knowingly held hostage within himself is ludicrous. " It is a tenuous claim, but in the absence of a strangely prophetic ‘living will' there was no legitimate advocate of the rights of a separate Tuvok and Neelix. As Tuvix was the sum of the memories, grey matter, personality and so forth of the two men and the current owner of the matter that comprised them he had the most insight into the minds of the two men, and rights of possession. "The intentions of Tuvok and Neelix were made clear by their actions both before and after the accident, specifically their choice not to re-merge (which was within their capability). " It can not necessarily be assumed that their lack of desire to re-merge is prove that would have chosen to separate if such a decision was possible. There is, at least potentially to them a significant moral difference between the two choices. "Their inability to articulate these desires are due entirely to the actions of Tuvix. If he contained the knowledge and memories of the two, he would know they wished to be free and was thus continuing his existence at their expense. If he had no such knowledge, he could simply allow the separation and obtain their permission to recombine. " To do so would be to expect a healthy, sentient being that desired life to commit suicide, though the two men may have chosen to recombine this raises existentialist issues, would the restored Tuvix actually be the same person as the original Tuvix. My opponent has failed to refute Tuvix's right to life, as a result his destruction can only be construed as murder. "2. The argument that merged officers are more practical is incorrect and irrelevant. First of all, Neelix likely shared his quarters with his mate, Kes, meaning the living arrangements would remain static. Secondly, a starship with the incredible size and capacity of Voyager [2] would hardly notice an additional empty room. Lastly, given Pro's definition of murder, pragmatics won't affirm the resolution. " The attempt to pragmatics was in hindsight weak and inappropriate, that contention shall be dropped. 3. "My opponent offers the analogy of stealing organs from one to give life to two others. Of course, the only way this comparison resembles this situation is if those organs originally belonged to the two in the first place! Tuvix's possession of their genetic material was not done with their consent, meaning his separation is simply restoring their rightful existence. " I believe that it is still a valid analogy, it can not be argued that the accidentally possession of the physical matter of which you are born with does not comprise some concept ownership over said matter. Tuvok and Neelix may have been unwitting contributors of this matter, but they were dead. Tuvix was alive and had a right to live. As the analogy remains valid, and as Star Trek does not routinely murder healthy innocents to harvest their organs to sustain the live of others, then the destruction of Tuvix was a violation of Federation law and morality and the motion is carried. "4. Pro overreaches with his claim that the doctor's decision mirrored Federation law. Overuse of his program (he was a hologram) caused him to develop a unique personality and the ability to both disagree with and disobey orders; " "throughout his tenure, the doctor has commandeered the ship [5, see: Renaissance Man]" Renaissance man is from series 7, as my opponent points out the Doctor becomes increasingly self-aware other time. In the second series it is to be expected that he is far more under the control of his programming, which does give us an insight into the medical ethics and laws of the federation. "infected individuals with fatal viruses [5, see: "Critical Care"]," This is again series 7, and he does so to save innocent life. Though strictly speaking it is a violation of medical ethics, it is done to correct a greater contradiction of medical ethics the person he infects is denying medical treatment to those who need it. . http://memory-alpha.org... "shown favoritism amongst patients [5, see: "Latent Image"]," In the episode in question the Doctor only has the time to operate on one patient, he has no choice but to risk the death of the other. The resulting death means that "The Doctor developed a feedback loop between his ethical and cognitive subroutines" causing his to become in essence insane. This incident shows that his ethical programming is still functioning. "and destroyed other holograms [5, see: "Flesh and Blood"]. " Again this is series 7, and the doctor takes the life of a hologram in self-defence of others. . http://memory-alpha.org... "At this point, none of Pro's arguments toward the illegality or immorality of Tuvix's destruction stand. In fact, given the accidental nature of the merging and the importance of Tuvok and Neelix to their families and crew, it was Tuvix alone who acted immorally. His end was not an act of murder, but rather the necessary restoration of two innocent men. " Tuvix was a rational, sentient, free willed entity that desired life. It is clear he had a right to life. The onus is on CON to refute this or to show how it can be negated.