Criminal Violence and Self-Defense: On the Intersection of the Natural Order and Civilization

Violence — The use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy.

Criminal violence — The intentional use, or attempted use, of physical force by a human against another human, so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy the other human.

Self-defense — An intentionally committed use of violence, by one individual against another, which can be justified by evidence of the executioner’s perceived threat of bodily injury or death immediately prior to the execution of the violent act.

Most articles of this nature are written from a legal perspective, e.g., what does the law say about injuring someone before they injure me? When can I—? and what if he—? I’d like to start a little before that. (Being a blog, my apologies to all sociologists, legal scholars and evolutionary biologists for my shorthand butchering of your life’s work.)

In its purest incarnation, violence is a just survival tool. Using violence to kill for food, or to injure or kill another predator to survive in “nature” is merely an objective means to an end. That end would be the preservation of life or life-sustaining resources (food, water, shelter, reproductive capability) for the winner at the immediate or eventual expense of the loser.

Under natural law, a battle to the death between predators of the same species remains a viable reality at any given moment, with no social construct to frame the engagement. Spotted hyenas killing each other over resources engenders no questions of morality or legality. The outcome of such a battle is determined solely by the objective reality of physics and physiology. Do or be done. No gods, no governments. Only action.

Under the laws of humanity, our species has collectively attempted to harness the beast known as intra-species or human-on-human violence. Humans wrote the “rule of law” to regulate and control the ad hoc, violence-driven resource management of the natural order. By force or through representation, a few have used a monopoly over violence to control resources since we began to live together in groups.

“Civilization” required that intra-species violence must be off limits for the individual, unless facing imminent bodily injury or death at the hands of another. The government would, in exchange, take responsibility for alleviating the need for interpersonal conflict over resources and keeping the group safe, while maintaining a firm grip on the harness.

The protocol modern humans have used to harness intra-species violence is known as criminal law and the organizations that implement the enumerated penalties are known as governments. The rules are straightforward: The intentional use of force to injure another is illegal; the more injury or abuse that a particular violent act creates, the greater the punishment for the offender, and the greater the range of permissive responses in kind for the would-be victim.

All well and good — but the stark reality is that the natural order did not disappear at the advent of the rule of law. Every human has the ability to disregard the ban at any time, and they often do, while others will never play along in the first place.

If you choose to reach deep down into the state of nature for the tool of violence and disregard the agreement to keep intra-species violence in check, you will be subjected to criminal prosecution.  If someone else drags you unwillingly back into a state of nature, where the natural law governs, the outcome of the battle will be determined solely by the objective reality of physics and physiology. Do or be done. Reach for that trusty friend violence, and wield the tool accordingly.

“Self-defense” will merely be the nice words used to describe your use of the tool if your otherwise criminally violent act is “justified.” Shouting, “this is against the law” while someone stabs you to death provides no immediate relief from the danger at hand. Human laws do not help when another has taken the harness off violence at your expense. No gods, no governments. Only action.       

In the end, what we’ve been conditioned to call “self-defense” is really just the reasonable use of violence — a brief excursion into the natural state because no other option was available.

— Matt Suitor