Aporia: Can You Consent to Your Own Murder?

by Jason Stotts

I recently heard about the case of Armin Meiwes, a German man made famous after he was arrested in December of 2002 for eating Bernd Jurgen Brandes (who consented to both his murder and the eating of his body).  Meiwes was originally tried for manslaughter, although the case was later reopened and he was found guilty of murder.

There are numerous questions raised in this case, but I want to focus on these:

– Is it murder if another man consents to you killing him?

– Do you have the right to consent to your own murder?

Although the answers amy seem easy at first, think about the questions and you shall see it is rather more complicated than it prima facieappears.  I’ll post my thoughts on it on Saturday.