Four candidates travelled to Meiwes’ house, but eventually were told the seriousness of the description. The other potential candidates thought that “being gobbled up” was a metaphor concerning sexual-actions. Brandes was a year older than his killer, but this didn’t seem to faze Meiwes who held auditions for the position. Meiwes had advertised on online chat-rooms, without euphemism or innuendo, his seeking a “young well-built man, who wanted to be eaten”. In March 2001, Meiwes killed and ate a willing, consenting man, Bernd Brandes. I say this because I think we need clarity in the case of infamous German cannibal, Armin Meiwes. If she does not wish to die, but still has her life taken away – violently or not is beside the point – then she was murdered. How we assess this is also another matter, but for humans we can infer in most instances whether or not someone willingly wants to die. ‘Murder’ falls within the category of ‘killing’, in that the organism in question is killed but did not want to be killed. It is another matter whether it is all or certain forms of organic life we are concerned with. Surprising as it may seem, it is most helpful for discussions on killing if we recognise that the word itself is mostly and simply ‘the taking of organic life’. ‘Murder’ differs from ‘killing’ – and must differ for the words to have their moral impact – because killing is a neutral term.
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