Philosophy Week 6 Argument Evaluation

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Philosophy Week 6 Argument Evaluation At the beginning of the reading of “Terrorism: A Critique of Excuses” by author Michael Walzer. He states “the practice of terrorism is indefensible now that it has been recognized, like rape and murder, as an attack on the innocent”. (Walzer, 2014) If the victims of rape and murder are chosen and the victims of terrorism are not, terrorism is less defensible than rape. The victims of rape and murder are chosen and the victims of terrorism are not, therefore terrorism is less defensible than rape. Reading this states that all murder and rape victims are chosen, and all terrorism victims are random. If this were true, then the victim of rape I took care of as a nurse didn’t exist. We can call her Michelle, she was raped after a break in at her home, her assailant, admitted he picked her house at random, intended to just rob the house then leave. Upon seeing her alone in bed, decided to rape on the spot. Not planned, didn’t know her, never seen her before, just walked up to her house. This is just one of many random cases that are reported to police agencies around the country. Walzer also asserts terrorism victims are chosen at random. This is not true either, in videos posted online by terrorist groups, the victims are much smaller and weaker than their captors. Therefore, victims are chosen by size, not at random. Two groups of people walking through town, one male athletes, the other female athletes, which one is the group going to pick. Obviously the smaller, weaker group. Is this random? No, the terrorists set out to find the victims, they were chosen based on size. Not random at all. Bibliography Walzer, M. (2014). Terrorism: A Critique of Excuses. In M. Timmons, Disputed Moral Issues (p. 598). New York: Oxford University
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