The defense of necessity considered from the legal and moral points of view

Questions concerning the scope of the defense of necessity frequently arise in a variety of legal and philosophical discussions. Professor Christie gr apples with the questions raised by this defense: When can property be take n or destroyed to save human life? Must compensation always be paid? Can on e destroy the property of others to save one's own property? Can one kill a n innocent person to save the lives of a greater number of people? Professor Christie submits that much of the discussion of these difficult q uestions is too abstract and based on too cursory a review of the few legal authorities on the subject. He explores the authorities in depth, and conc ludes, among other things, that someone who destroys property to save human life is not generally required to pay compensation for the property destro yed, and that private individuals can never use the defense of necessity, e ven when multiple human lives are threatened, to justify intentionally taki ng innocent human life.