DEFINITIONAL ARGUMENT - Essay Example

Definitional Argument While words are essential for verbal communication there exists a surprisingly strong degree of contention about the nature ofspecific definitions. Although there are dictionary definitions of most prominently used words, these definitions oftentimes fail to capture the subtle and complex nature of linguistic meaning. In certain contexts, this difficulty in understanding can result in legal or moral arguments. One such example occurs with the world murder. This essay presents an argument for the essential criteria of this category, argues how this subject matches this criterion, and presents a counter-argument to these categorical assumptions.

The criteria that constitute murder are complex. Within this context of understanding, murder has been understood as, “to kill or slaughter inhumanly or barbarously” (“Dictionary.com”). Within this context of understanding, murder constitutes the killing of one human by another in an inhuman or barbarous way. The challenge then becomes determining what constitutes ‘barbarous’. One such understanding in these regards is that barbarous behavior constitutes that with is uncivil or out of the realms of regular human actions.

In this area of understanding, the subject of assisted suicide can be classified as constituting murder. The nature of assisted suicide is such that one human acts to kill another human. Furthermore, the nature of such an act is both uncivil and out of the realm of regular human action. It follows that assisted suicide, which contains both a human killing another human, and is out of the realm of regular human action, constitutes murder. Ultimately actions, such as those taken by Dr. Jack Kevorkian, constitute murder and should be punished as such.

While the criterion of murder has been argued to contain within it the act of assisted suicide, there are many counter-arguments that exist to this contention. Earlier the nature of murder has been understood as occurring when a human kills another human in a barbarous or inhuman way. The notion that assisted suicide constitutes murder hinges on the notion that assisting another human to kill himself or herself is a barbarous of inhuman act. While assisting another human in suicide falls under the criteria of one human killing another, it does not necessarily constitute a barbarous or inhuman act.

Oftentimes individual find themselves in situations where they are experiencing tremendous pain that restricts them for continuing their life in an enjoyable way. Similarly, it’s possible for an individual to have fallen into a brain dead state where they are unable to perform even basic life functions. In these situations, the act of assisting an individual in suicide is not barbarous, but an act of humanity. In conclusion, this essay has presented a definitional argument that considers the nature of murder.

While murder has a generally defined context, it is nebulous in a number of ways. One of the ambiguous subject areas concerns whether assisted suicide constitutes murder. In this context of understanding, the essay has presented an argument that demonstrates how it constitutes this criteria, as well as counter-argument that demonstrates how assisted suicide constitutes an act of humanity. References"Murder." Dictionary.com. N.p., 2011. Web. 25 Oct 2011. .