Culpability of person who infects another with a disease or virus?

Economics Political Theory
28

Tues. 12/04/10 14:36 EDT
.post #126
[url=Culpability of person who infects another with a disease or virus? - #24 by Eugene]

Well, I think, in socialdtk’s last post in this thread, he did not answer my first two questions.

Socialdtk thinks the answer to my first question is “very obvious,” but I do not think so.

I intended my first question to expose the assumptions socialdtk might be making about “pathogenic viruses,” which seem to be:

  1. Pathogenic viruses exist;
  2. We can objectively and irrefutably establish that they exist in some people;
  3. We know that these viruses are contagious;
  4. We can establish beyond doubt that a virus from person A infected person B;
  5. The infection “caused” person B’s death.

Assuming all five of the assumptions listed above can be established as facts, then I think the case of the airplane can easily be dealt with using contracts. For example, every purchaser of a flight pass agrees, as a condition of being a passenger, to not knowingly board the plane while harboring a deadly and contagious virus.

However, I believe NONE of the five assumptions can currently be established to a degree even approaching factuality. None of them are currently “knowable,” in my opinion. The reality is that knowledge is scarce and life is inherently risky. We can not eliminate every risk, but we can choose our personally acceptable ratio of risk to cost. For example, if you want to eliminate the risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease, you can abstain from sex. You obtain complete safety at the cost of foregoing the pleasure of sex.

[url=Culpability of person who infects another with a disease or virus? - #27 by Eugene]

This thread is, in my opinion, an attempt to explore what does and does not constitute “aggression.”

See also An attempt to commit a crime.

If A surreptitiously slips deadly poison into B’s drink and B dies, did A commit aggression?

If A, who knowingly harbors a deadly, saliva-communicable virus, asks for a sip of B’s drink, then after drinking from the contaminated cup B becomes sick and dies, did A commit aggression?

Edit:

[url=Another legal issue - inside alien]

Since the condition under which the alien explodes “is known,” then running very fast is analogous tantamount to attempted suicide.

So, let’s make your scenario more realistic:

Suppose someone jumps off a building in a suicide attempt. He lands on another person. Both persons survive, but both are injured.

Is the jumper liable? I’d answer “yes.” So, I’d also answer “yes” to your hypothetical question.