Just to muddy things a little further, "necessary" and "I had no other option" are not the same. Necessary for what purpose? It is necessary for me to eat and drink so as not to die, but I can refrain from doing either if I choose to.
Where do I have no choice at all? It's more in the things I can't do - if I'm holding a heavy rock, sooner or later I'm going to drop it. (Possibly on top of something or someone that would have preferred this not to happen). If I can't manage to stand up, and the food and drink is inaccessible from the floor, eating and drinking is not going to happen.
The real problem isn't "necessary" v. "justified", it's when you have a choice, to do X or not to do X, and you have to compare the level of justification for each, then pick the least bad of the options. Given the choice of Person Y killing an innocent victim (me, my husband, some random yob in the street), or me doing them possibly lethal damage so as to stop them, which is the lesser of the two evils? I'm not denying that both are bad things, but this is one of those Weevil Comparison problems, as far too many other things are.
no subject
Where do I have no choice at all? It's more in the things I can't do - if I'm holding a heavy rock, sooner or later I'm going to drop it. (Possibly on top of something or someone that would have preferred this not to happen). If I can't manage to stand up, and the food and drink is inaccessible from the floor, eating and drinking is not going to happen.
The real problem isn't "necessary" v. "justified", it's when you have a choice, to do X or not to do X, and you have to compare the level of justification for each, then pick the least bad of the options. Given the choice of Person Y killing an innocent victim (me, my husband, some random yob in the street), or me doing them possibly lethal damage so as to stop them, which is the lesser of the two evils? I'm not denying that both are bad things, but this is one of those Weevil Comparison problems, as far too many other things are.