I am an optimist. I like to believe that there is hope in every person for change and ethical. While these readings make some very strong points about the political justification of Tyranicide I do still believe that death is never a justified punishment. Yet, I do understand the extreme sense of fear and insecurity that Tyrants inspire makes it extremely difficult to rebel without execution. A possible solution could be an international council of judges who can sentence a Tyrant to life in prison or a life of exile. This would be beneficial because the council would include respected members from around the world; the power and respect they would hold could overpower the fear of the citizens who are being ruled by the tyrant. This council would be in charge of physically removing the leader from their position. This method could also be beneficial because while these tyrants are in excile we could study and interview them, understand their pasts, their reason for thinking the way they do. This could potentially lead to less extreme methods of removing a tyrant as the knowledge gained could aid in coming up with ethical and effective ways to remove a tyrant from power. That is instead of chopping off the head of a snake to kill the body… this is flawed because there is no regulated way to reconstruct society after the fact.
I think it is interesting how early in “Distinguishing Classical Tyrannicide from Modern terrorism” George states that a selfless act for the good of the people. As mentioned earlier in my post, when I think of murder I think of terror, fear, lack of ethics, and insanity. However, I personally have never lived in a society ruled by a tyrant. I have never known the fear and lack of trust that sprouts from being a powerless, vulnerable citizen. The closest I have come to this phenomenon, aside from learning about it in class or on the internet, is film and movies. The need or inclination for tyrannicide can be understood by thinking about the intense fear when the villain comes onto the screen and the sense of relief that comes from seeing them fall off a cliff or being taken away. It is efficient. It can seem like the only effective option, especially in a society who has lost hope and sence of self secutiy.
I like how you call into question if killing a tyrant is ethical or not. I agree there is a need to look at other possible solutions. We also must look at the outcome of killing the tyrant and see what political path the country will follow.
I really like your point about how killing is never the option. I think that sentencing someone to life in prison is even unethical because they never get a second chance to prove themselves again or right their wrongs. Although some people don’t deserve the opportunity of a second chance I think depending on the situation and how behaviors in prison, there should be some sort of way to live outside of bars.
I love how you question whether you are capable of giving an opinion on the subject. That is important because no one truly knows how they would respond in many scenarios until they are forced to do so. It is important to stay honest and I agree with you, maybe under the right circumstances, I would understand the situation as a possible much more easily.