On Violence

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Would it be morally justified to use violence to stop a man who was raping a child? If not, then standing by and letting the rape proceed must be a more moral act, then.

Boru

The word violence is not the word I would use. Yes, it is justified to use force in this scenario. However, at least in the American system, you are not justified in killing him or maming him. I would assume the law allows you to use only enough force to stop the act. (Of course, the jury may be completely fine with you killing him.) So I would consider the unjust act of force to be examples of violence.

This isn't an arbitrary distinction. The word violence, even though it refers to force, still carries a negative sense. No one hears the word violence and infers a neutral use of force. The force used when teams play sports, for example, is not the same as the violence used when teams start physically fighting.

So, if a man is raping a child and I bash him over the head with a metal pipe, that’s not violence? And, by your definition, martial arts contests do not qualify as violence. Seriously - have you ever even see an MMA fight or a boxing match?

Pull the other one, it’s got bells on.

Boru