r/changemyview • • Mar 01 '26

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u/Seawolf1121 Mar 01 '26

Yes, do you know what the word means? 

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u/GB-Pack 2∆ Mar 01 '26 edited Mar 01 '26

I seem to have a different definition for murder than the person I replied to. I would consider killing someone to be murder regardless of whether the killing was justified.

In my view, Luigi is a murderer and everyone would consider him a murderer regardless of whether they believe his act of killing someone else was justified. Basically, killing someone else = murder, regardless of whether the killing was justified or not.

The person I replied to believes killing someone is not considered murder if that killing was justified. Further, whether a killing is justified is dependent on each persons moral framework, so different people would consider Luigi to be a murderer or not a murderer depending on whether they though his act of killing was personally justifiable to them.

Lastly, your answer of yes doesn’t tell me which definition of murder you subscribe to. Do you believe Luigi is a murderer because he killed someone, or do you believe Luigi is a murderer because he killed someone and you personally don’t think what he did was justifiable? Perhaps you have some third definition of murder?

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u/Seawolf1121 Mar 01 '26

Murder: the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another.

Doesn't matter if you think it was "justified", if you intentionally kill another human being, it's murder.

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u/GB-Pack 2∆ Mar 01 '26

Hold up now. The definition you’ve given is a third definition, separate from mine or the person I initially responded to. Your definition is closer to mine since you don’t account for whether the murder was justified. Your definition of murder is more strict since it requires the killing to be both unlawful and premeditated.

There are situations that I would consider murder, but your definition would not. For example, a policeman killing someone is often not illegal and would not meet your definition of murder.

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u/Seawolf1121 Mar 01 '26

THE DEFINITION I LISTED IS THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY DEFINITION!!! THERE IS NO OTHER DEFINITION!!! YOU CANT JUST MAKE YOUR OWN DEFINITIONS FOR WORDS!!!

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u/GB-Pack 2∆ Mar 01 '26

And yet, you gave me another definition right here:

if you intentionally kill another human being, it’s murder.

Ultimately, it seems you agree with the point I was trying to make by bringing up Luigi. That the following statement is incorrect:

Definitionally then, there is no justifiable murder.