3 ms·

Bob is repeatedly punching Jon in the head, for invalid reasons. Pete, seeing this, runs up and belts Bob to protect Jon. Are these acts the same?

• nurettin 2y ago
  Pretty much, yes. I'm surprised you don't spot belting to be an equally violent action.
  • b112 2y ago
    It is violent, but intent is everything. Blowing up a building because you're a mobster, and you're "sending a message", is different from a demolition crew doing the same to make way for a new building. You should really rethink what you're saying. An act is a wholesome, contextualize thing. It does not live in a vacuum. By your measure, a sexual predator grabbing a woman's vagina and a doctor examing a female patient are identical. This is a broken mental map of the world.
    • nurettin 2y ago
      [flagged]
  • dredmorbius 2y ago
    A surgeon and an assassin both wield a blade, and both occasionally kill. Their intent and motives differ strongly. Mens rea exists because reasons. (This is also why surgeons generally request a statement of consent to medical procedures from the patient, where that's tractable, or by a representative --- parent, guardian, someone granted power of attorney, etc --- where the patient themselves is incapable of consent. There are still some loose edges, but this itself is a significant though not sole distinction between the two roles noted.)