Logical errors in direct murder vs indirect murder?
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Original Question
Scenario 1 (positive murder)= guilty:
Person 1 intentionally infects person 2 with a deadly virus.
Therefore person 1 directly caused person 2s death and is guilty of murder and must go to jail.
Scenario 2 (negative murder)= not guilty:
Person 1 intentionally did not stop a deadly virus from infecting person 2.
Therefore person 1 indirectly caused person 2s death and is not guilty of murder and does not go to jail.
Is this because its unfalsifiable, untestable, indirect and has plausible deniability? If its because its indirect, what really is the difference there?
Society X makes Y rules.
Person 1 breaks Y rules in society X.
Therefore person 1 goes to jail.
Is this arbitrary conclusion based on an argument from authority fallacy, or a ban-wagon fallacy, or an argument from tradition fallacy, or a popularity fallacy? I just find it curious how a positive is not equal to a negative when they have the same logical form.
Answers
3This is a moral/legal issue. The difference is debated among philosophers and law makers. Some argue there is no difference, others argue there is a significant difference, and some argue it is somewhere on the continuum.
This is more of a moral dilemma type thing. Not acting to prevent a death is not the same as causing a death, unless perhaps your job involved oversight and action of whatever occured.
"Therefore person 1 indirectly caused person 2s death" - this statement is false, not acting is not a cause.
Relevant legal concepts are 'actus reus' (guilty act) and 'mens rea' (guilty mind). Both determine the nature of the charges against a defendant. For case 1 ('positive murder'), both will necessarily apply - one premeditated the murder (guilty mind) then committed it (guilty act).
For case 2 ('negative murder'), it is not a given that mens rea will apply. Negligence could be another reason why someone failed to act.
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