Who is morally responsible for this death?

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Everybody in the French Foreign Legion outpost hates Billy, and wants him dead. During the night before Billy’s trek across the desert, Tom poisons the water in his canteen. Then, ****, not knowing of Tom’s intervention, pours out the (poisoned) water and replaces it with sand. Finally, Harry comes along and pokes holes in the canteen, so that the “water” will slowly run out. Later, Billy awakens and sets out on his trek, provisioned with his canteen. Too late he finds his canteen is nearly empty, but besides, what remains is sand, not water, not even poisoned water. Billy dies of thirst.

Who caused his death? Is it murder?

Please explain your answer.
 
Richard_Powers said:
Everybody in the French Foreign Legion outpost hates Billy, and wants him dead. During the night before Billy’s trek across the desert, Tom poisons the water in his canteen. Then, ****, not knowing of Tom’s intervention, pours out the (poisoned) water and replaces it with sand. Finally, Harry comes along and pokes holes in the canteen, so that the “water” will slowly run out. Later, Billy awakens and sets out on his trek, provisioned with his canteen. Too late he finds his canteen is nearly empty, but besides, what remains is sand, not water, not even poisoned water. Billy dies of thirst.

Who caused his death? Is it murder?

Please explain your answer.
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Fairly strange scenario, and it almost sounds like a trick question (e.g., it never specifically says anybody did anything to BILLY’S canteen) but here goes, the best I can do. And I assume we’re talking about moral guilt, not legal guilt.

-A person has to assume quite a bit in order to answer this. But, making some limited ones, here’s my response. Morally, every intervenor is a murderer because he took action to kill Billy, intending his death, without a morally sufficient reason to excuse it. Now, if **** is Billy himself, **** is not a murderer, but a suicide. In a moral sense, causation is not relevant.

Legally, it is relevant, and there would be a number of things to consider, not all of which are in the hypothetical; ****'s identity being only one of them.
 
Matthew 5:28
But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
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He who intends to murder has already murdered in his heart. All three are guilty.

I suspect Billy is also guilty for failing to check his canteen before leaving.
 
Here it is with **** (D i c k) replaced with Mick:

Everybody in the French Foreign Legion outpost hates Billy, and wants him dead. During the night before Billy’s trek across the desert, Tom poisons the water in his canteen. Then, Mick, not knowing of Tom’s intervention, pours out the (poisoned) water and replaces it with sand. Finally, Harry comes along and pokes holes in the canteen, so that the “water” will slowly run out. Later, Billy awakens and sets out on his trek, provisioned with his canteen. Too late he finds his canteen is nearly empty, but besides, what remains is sand, not water, not even poisoned water. Billy dies of thirst. Who caused his death?
 
Billy’s platoon sergeant, lieutenant, or other immediately superior NCO or officer. He should maintain better discipline in his unit than to allow such a situation to build up.

Oh yeah, and those other goofs who sabotaged Billy’s canteen.
 
So, Richard, it looks like provisionally the answers all seem the same. Why don’t you tell us what you had in mind?

VC
 
Assuming you are not asking a trick question, Billy is responsible. I backpack. You are responsible for what you carry. Besides, if you walk a couple of hours, at the most, you should be drinking something. So after a couple of hours Billy would notice the sand and either get water, or walk back to where there was water. A 4 hour hike probably will not kill you.

I can also see where you are asking a trick question.
 
I am not really sure who is responsible. I am still thinking about it.
 
It is not explained why everyone 'hates’poor billy…does he have bad breath,does he gossip by smoke signalls,maybe howls at the moon while the others try to sleep…so the premise is not complete enough! In the military is the honor code…if a fellow trooper is a spy,or slacker or maybe even does not heed the sign in the mess hall…‘take all you want but eat all you take’ and leaves half his plate while others in the world are starving…he must be reported to the next in command or all are derelect in their duty! This is another of the life boat problems we had in psych 101…so as an x GI and retired teacher in communications I say take out a copy of the funny Laurel and Hardy movie on the foreign legion and laugh with them…the bit with Laurel plucking the wires of his bedspring like a magic harp is priceless…
 
I assume it is either Bush or Clinton depending on the political preferences of the OP 😃
 
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