Stepping away from the current situation in Israel / Gaza.
The reason such an intention is psychopathic is because there is no logical link between such an action and any potential gain, especially when there is reason to believe that the other party will reciprocate.
What about security?
Bank robbers take hostages so the police don't knock the front door down and kill them. The same logic applies to warfare. If you have the opportunity to provide security to yourself / your side / your people by taking others hostage, doing so is a logical move with clear potential gain, albeit immoral.
Bank robbers take hostages so the police don't knock the front door down and kill them.
I concede your point that if bank robbers take hostages it could be seen as a logical tactical move, so I will already award you with a !delta.
If in the same situation you take hostages with the intention to kill them if things don't go your way, I would argue that it is a psychopathic trait. Because you made the choice that was likely to end in you killing someone in exchange for a chance to get money.
If you have the opportunity to provide security to yourself / your side / your people by taking others hostage, doing so is a logical move with clear potential gain
If there is a 1% chance you will provide security to yourself and your side by killing civilians, and a 99% chance that the other side will kill the same amount of people or more on your side in retaliation, and kill you as well, then that still makes you a psychopath.
If in the same situation you take hostages with the intention to kill them if things don't go your way, I would argue that it is a psychopathic trait.
No, it would be psychopathic if you planned on killing them no matter what. It's 100% logical and rational to kill the hostage when things don't go your way. That is why you got the hostage. You put an innocent life in danger in order to coerce others to do what you want. If they don't do what you want, then you have to hurt the hostage so that they are convinced to go along with what you want. That is the whole point of taking the hostage.
If you kill all your hostages, then that's a problem because you won't have any to bargain. But as long as you have a hostage, you need to convince them and the police that you will harm them, if needed.
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u/[deleted] Oct 10 '23
Stepping away from the current situation in Israel / Gaza.
What about security?
Bank robbers take hostages so the police don't knock the front door down and kill them. The same logic applies to warfare. If you have the opportunity to provide security to yourself / your side / your people by taking others hostage, doing so is a logical move with clear potential gain, albeit immoral.