Quote:
Originally Posted by NoBoxes
Those who have been adjudged to no longer be their own responsible party still have a right to life; yet, some of them may be stripped of the right to defend themselves (with only a right to be defended by others). The same can be said of some prisoners. The right to life and the right to self defense are distinct and separate in practical application. Considering that what constitutes mental incompetence and what constitutes a crime is in the eye of the beholder in power at the time, the separation between the right to life and the right to self defense becomes a distinction with a difference.
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This is exactly part of the way I think about this situation. This of course then goes to suggest that one is a natural right and the other is completely regulated by society, therefor, not natural at all. However, the impulse to defend one's life is certainly natural.