Murder

[cesar]

"The unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another.". This is the definition given out by Google for the noun Murder. I post this because throughout the play, Hamlet tends to kill people and according to Google, that can be considered murder. But I've always had a different view towards the word murder. I think that murder is more of a malicious act that has no purpose behind it. But Hamlet does have a reason to do what he is doing and considering the different values and morals that the society back then had, killing someone like Claudius will be more or less justified.

So my question is, in what situation is "murder" justifiable. In what situation will you actually see the act of killing another human being actually good or morally/ethically grey, or is killing someone just completely wrong for you in all situations, even in self defense (just make sure to say why)?

[sarahlee4]

I dont think murder is justifiable. I think its understandable why a person murdered the other being if it was for self defence, but in most other cases, I think its so bad. I think that murderin someone is the worst sin in the world because that persn you murdered is anoher person just like you. That person has a family just like you and that person has the right to deserve another chance just like you. I really dont understand it when I hear on the news about people being murdered.

[hannahs]

I think the only time murder is justifiable is for self defense. Self defense it will be understandable because you are trying to protect your on life. Other than that, I really can't see anytime where it will be right for one person to kill another person. No one should have the right and the power to end something as precious as someone else's life no matter what the situation is.

[sang]

Well, you mention that he had a "reason." But is it a reason? I think of more as an excuse. My belief is that no matter what happens, you have no right to kill that other person because murdering is not a matter of "evening things out." So I don't think that Hamlet has a "reason" to kill another human being. Therefore, he has no reason.

[delmanykkfs]

In Hamlet story shows that murder is justifiable ( in my point of view ) Hamlet wnated to revenge is father death so he decided to kill his uncle but I think i other cases is bad just like Sara 4 said because there's a lot people that kill others without any justifiable reason, so I think it depends if you kill some for self-defense or revenge I think is justifiable but if you kill someone w/out any justifiable reason then I'd say it's wrong.

[stormy44]

Murder can never be justified. Who are we to take another humans' life? In case of self defense, I guess it can be okay, but Hamlet didn't have to defend himself from anyone. And for Hamlet, his reasons were very self-centered. He believes in what the ghost told him, and later drives himself crazy with the plan of killing his uncle. There is no real evidence that Hamlet's father was killed by Claudius. And by killing Claudius, he put the whole nation into grief and sorrow once again.

[minchoi0923]

I think murder cannot be justified unless it was used for self defense. But for other than self defense, I think murder just cannot be excused no matter what. In my point of view, Hamlet is also a terrible murderer. His reason was that this ghost who looked like his father came up to him, told him that the King got murdered by Claudius that Hamlet should go take revenge on Claudius. Basically, Hamlet killed off those people just because of a witness given by a ghost. therefore, even if his reasons might sound okay, I think what he did was still a murder and cannot be justified.

[sujeonggg]

I think it's kinda ironic how Hamlet is okay to murder Claudius but Claudius is not okay to murder the King Hamlet. It's so not okay even if Hamlet is just taking revenge on Claudius for killing his father. Then what if the third person who is loyal to Claudius kills Hamlet for revenge? Would that also be okay, since they all have reasons? So I think murder is always not okay.

[jessicak016]

In my opinion, if you murder someone out of self-defense, then this murder would be considered justified because you killed a person, who tried to kill you. But in case of revenge, it depends on the point of view. Some people say that even murdering for revenge is not okay because it is wrong to take a human's life, no matter how evil he or she is.
But for me, it seems reasonable to kill someone for revenge, just like Hamlet does. This situation reminds me of "an eye for eye" where if a person did something bad to you, then you can do same thing to the person. But again, it depends on the point of view.

[michellelee]

I think murder is not justifiable unless it is for self-defense. In that case, you would not have any other choice but to kill that person because obviously he would be threatening you to kill you. So, in that kind of situation, I think it is okay.

[ginayang]

I think that murder is unjustifiable in all situations except for self-defense. Even if a person stole your wife/ husband, killed your loved one, or bullied you, it doesn't give you the right to murder that person. We are all human beings with equal value. That's why I don't support capital punishment too. Yes, that criminal may have done many wrong deeds but the government is acting just the same as a criminal by killing him/her.

[joon]

it is a really controversial topic, but I have some situtations where I think murder is ethically grey, and maybe even good. We see situations in movies where someone close to a person who is suffering kills that person suffering while he's dying to put him out of his misery. Murder, in that sense, is a way to help a person who would die painlessly than die in misery. Ethically grey would be Self-defense. What if a person came to your family or your loved ones to kill them or badly harm them, and your only choice was to kill him? I don't think "murder" is the word that fits that situation.

[juliekim]

I think murder in most cases usually does have a reason behind it. That's one of the most important factors that cops consider when they're looking for suspects and stuff. I don't think murder can be justified for any reason except self-defense. Everyone has their own reasons and to themselves, it could look good and reasonable but that shouldn't let them just get away with murder. They still have to pay the price or else everyone's going to be killing people and making up their own "good" reasons.

[franicaza95]

Well when you think of the word murder, you immidiately think of people who kill without cause like you mentioned. In some cases murder in my opinion does have a reason. In another class we were discussing about gun control issues and we concluded that many of the reasons of why many murders happen, are due to specific reasons such as poverty, racism, and well the most common one which is self defense! Of coursr i do not agree with the action of murder but maybe the only way id justify it would be if its for self defense.

[Alam10kkfs]

If I were in the situation where I have to kill or be killed, Id choose to kill. If you are in a situation where it is kill or be killed, your primitive instinct would be to kill, so that you have the opportunity to survive. But I would like to state that murder is wrong, but then again, it depends on where the situation you are in.