Friedrich NietzscheThere is a certain right by which we many deprive a man of life, but none by which we may deprive him of death; this is mere cruelty.
About This Quote
The Nuremberg trials were the military trials of 23 German and Axis war criminals after World War II. The prosecution represented the Allied Powers, while the defense represented Germany and all Axis nations. After the trial's conclusion, many of the defense attorneys went on to serve in American politics or practice law. The men who prosecuted these cases were some of the world's most prominent lawyers, including Robert H.
Jackson, who served as U.S. Solicitor General from May 1942 to November 1945, and Benjamin F. Bickley, Jr., a former member of Congress from New York and a former judge advocate general in World War I.
In this quote, Robert Jackson makes a distinction between two types of cruelty: the first is to take away a man's life by killing him, but none by which a man may be deprived of his death; the second is mere cruelty, which is to take away a man's life by depriving him of his natural right to it. In this quote, Robert Jackson uses both “cruelty” and “cruel” to describe two different kinds of unnecessary acts that lead people to kill another person as if murder was an acceptable practice. In his mind, both murders are morally wrong because they are cruel and unnecessary acts that have no just reason for being committed.
Source: Human, All Too Human
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