Soldiers life threatened by his own side.

[Tempus]

Appreciate this answer, it took me a night to think through and write but seriously very well argued thus far sir, perhaps we can keep it shorter in future? my fingers ache...

It's a big reply with a lot of points to address. I'm willing to go there, but in retrospect it's probably better to begin by looking at the assumptions our respective moral philosophies rest upon, and then securing each individual point along the way. All philosophies, if you go back far enough, rest upon assumptions which cannot be proven. Here is mine:

I start with nothing. I then assume that personal happiness is worth pursuing. Now, I can give you reasons why I assume this, why I think this particular assumption is a good one to make, and how a personal (or "selfish") value of happiness doesn't necessitate a parasitic / dystopian society (which I will as it becomes necessary), but ultimately I can't support it without appealing to something else which also ultimately rests upon an assumption or is in some way circular / question begging. So far as I can tell, the assumed value of personal happiness is the only assumption my moral philosophy makes - all other criteria / values are derived from this assumption.

One of your assumptions seems to be that humans have natural rights. This, to me, is a poor assumption. Firstly, what is a natural right and how do we know it exists? Secondly, it's natural? Does that mean it's respected in the natural world (i.e. in the wild)? Humans, in the natural world, are no more valued or respected than any other animal and are killed, eaten, ignored, and fled from in the same manner as other animals. If a natural right doesn't cause you to be treated differently from anything else in the natural world then what is the point of it to begin with? I'd contend rights are granted by society, not adopted from the natural world. If you say it's the natural order of things not to be harmed, then I say you're delusional - you'd be quickly dispelled of this notion after being dropped in the middle of an ocean, desert or jungle. Both our values (happiness and natural rights) are assumed, however, they're not equal; my assumed value, happiness, actually exists whereas I see no reason to believe in a natural right to be assumed valuable in the first place.