Tyrannicide is an interesting topic that I have not thought about too much, solely because we have never seen this in our country’s recent history. The thought of killing an oppressive leader initially strikes me positively but there is one problem: how do we determine who is and who is not a tyrant? Andrade stated in his article, “the moral defense of tyrannicide has the difficulty of specifying who is a tyrant.” However I would think about tyrannicide in a utilitarian way; if the tyrant is nationally disliked I would not see a problem with their assassination.
Andrade later says, “If somehow the tyrant could be removed from power without the shedding of blood, then that option is preferable.” I clearly agree with this statement from a moral stance, but like I said before, the concept of tyrannicide is a slippery slope. The assassination of a tyrant is always questionable, but furthermore, even if a tyrant is killed, there is still no guarantee that a nation will benefit. Overall, I believe that if there is no other way to force an oppressive leader, tyrannicide is justified morally.
I immediately thought of your question about who is considered a tyrant and who is not; after our class discussion last week, I thought about how subjective people’s opinions of leaders are in such a politically charged era. I also agree with you that if a leader is arguably a tyrant, it should be okay to assassinate them– but what about their loyal followers?
I definitely agree with your position. It is too dangerous to outright support because in this country our politics are so polar. Half the country could be convinced of our president being a tyrant half of the time. It would tear our country apart if every time anumerical majority disagreed on policy someone got assassinated.
its really weird how we humans can justify the murder of another if they get in the way of the majority of people, like a tyrant. however when it comes to small things like cheating a lot of people feel like moral trash if they emotionally hurt someone badly.
I agree with your utilitarian point of view about tyrannicide, however, I think that the tyrant has to be more than nationally hated. In order for tyrannicide to be justified, it has to be a situation like North Korea where only around 2% or less of the population is benefitting.