Dead Man Murder Problem

 

 

 

Whodunnit?

The attempted desert murders of the dead man

 

OR

 

Who's Afraid of the Trolley Dilemma?

 

This item is based on a version I read some decades ago, which was published as a puzzle for the Artificial Intelligence software community; unfortunately, I am unsure of the author of the original (Donald Michie?), but I have elaborated on the version that I then read.

As I see it this problem beats the Trolley Dilemma for genuine substance, but both of them are based on neglect of the ethical principles involved: nearly everyone who tries to resolve the matter naïvely begs fundamental questions.  Without resolution of those questions their discussions become meaningless. If you happen to be insufficiently familiar with the Trolley Problem, read the article in Wikipedia, where there is a good discussion.

At the time of writing I do not know of a published version of any discussion of what I here call the "Dead man murder problem", but anyone who can refer me to any earlier version, or to an interesting elaboration, shall be most hospitably received and acknowledged.

Alf, Billy, Charlie, and Dennis crash-landed unhurt when their aircraft failed over a desert, landing among dunes far from anywhere. 

Alf so bullied the others that they hated him and each privately decided that he couldn’t hold out for rescue while Alf lived.

Billy surreptitiously put a slow leak into Alf's water canteen.  Charlie did not know of the leak, so he dissolved some cyanide in the water. Dennis did not know of the others’ attempts, so he  dissolved some gelatine in the water while the others slept.  This solidified the water once it had cooled, so that it could not leak, but also could not be poured out, giving the impression of a vessel containing no liquid, though if it were dug out with a stick or similar rod and swallowed, it could have kept Alf alive as effectively as liquid water would have, if it had not been for the cyanide. 

Alf set out on a walk towards the river, telling the others to wait by the wreck, or he would skin them when he returned, but as soon as he had gone the other three hurriedly left in another direction, taking the rest of the water from the wreck and abandoning him to his fate.  Alf was within walking distance of the river if only he had had enough drinking water to get him so far, but not realising that there actually was salvation from thirst, if not from cyanide, in the water bottle, he died of thirst before he could reach the river, or perhaps on his way back to the plane where he thought the others would have been waiting for him. 

The other three were rescued, arrested, and charged with his murder.  In that country murder carried a mandatory sentence of death by hanging, so, not surprisingly, each pleaded not guilty of murder, though some reserved in extenuation, a plea of attempted murder, arguing that nobody had done anything that killed Alf, so that in fact there was no murder at all. 

Billy argued that his leak had done Alf no harm because it was not the leak that had  deprived him of water, and in fact he had had enough water with him at all times, and besides that his leak even would have saved him from the cyanide if it had not been for the gelatine.

Charlie showed that Alf had not died of cyanide, and as he had done nothing but administer cyanide, he could not possibly be guilty of harming Alf in any way.

Dennis argued that that the water contained in the jelly in the water bottle could have kept Alf alive till he reached the river, so that actually his action had both conserved the water that would have leaked out, and saved  Alf from dying from either thirst or cyanide —  if only Alf had elected to be saved by it. Alf had died of his own ignorance, not murder by thirst or cyanide.

And yet, Alf is dead, and would not have been dead if none of the others had tried to kill him. And for extra credit, if Alf had caught them in time, the rest of them would have been dead, so they could all claim merit for saving of innocent lives. Still, yet again, each had tried to kill him, and each one's deed would have killed him if the others' deeds had not interfered. But no individual one had succeeded more than any other; no one had done any one thing that had harmed Alf. And what about the plea that the actions of some of them had saved Alf’s life, if not for long, of course?

And they had neither colluded nor conspired. . .

 

Well, ultimately, who was guilty of what, if anything? Alf of suicide, or any of the others of anything?