The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers

First Law metaphysics question

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nadia.skylark:
Okay, I have a couple of questions regarding when the First Law of Magic is considered to be broken that I'd like people's opinions on.

First, what happens if you use magic to deal someone an injury that is fatal, but not immediately, and then kill them with mundane methods before they die of it? For example, what if you blast someone with enough fire that they will certainly die of their burns in a few minutes/few hours/day, but then before they do so you put a bullet through their head?

Second, what happens if you use magic to deal someone an injury that has the potential to be fatal if the person isn't careful, but if they are they'll live, and then they do something careless and die of it? For example, what if you give someone a bad cut on the leg, but if they stay still and try to stop the bleeding they'll be fine, and then instead they keep chasing after you and die of blood loss?

Bad Alias:
I'd say both of those are not violations of the first law because there is a non-magical intervening act that prevents, in the first example, and causes, in the second example, the death from injuries by magical means.

I'm near 100% confident in the first example, but much less so in the second.

I base this on Jim's discussions of first law violations being more about result than intent and his focus on free will and choice. In both cases the death is the result not of magical injuries, but of choices about those injuries. Also, almost every time a wizard kills someone it is very likely to be very similar to situation one, i.e. the only reason the wizard was able to kill the person is because they used magic to make the person vulnerable in the first place, i.e., the death is "caused" by magic.

kbrizzle:
I agree with @Bad Alias - JB makes it clear that intent & believing something ought to happen is pretty important. In 2 examples you bring up, murder is not the intention, however I wouldn’t be surprised if #1 puts a stain on your soul.

KurtinStGeorge:
If you blast someone with enough fire to kill them, that means you believed in what you were doing enough to use that level of magical mayhem.  I think it doesn't matter that you finished them off with a mundane weapon.  Barring self-defense, because the other person was trying to kill you first, you committed a First Law violation when you hit that person with a lethal level of magic because it was clearly your intent to kill them.

The second case is entirely on the victim.  First, they are chasing you.  That likely means you are afraid for your own life and are just trying to get away.  That might be enough for a self-defense argument.  More important from the Council's perspective is you also didn't use enough magical force to kill your opponent, just enough force to get away.  It was their stubbornness and stupidity which killed them. 

morriswalters:
The first example has been used as a plot device in murder mysteries.  So based on that, my thought is the bullet is the cause of death. Not magic.  If he bleeds to death, the cause of death is the attack, not the victims failure to take care of it. Had you not attacked there wouldn't have been any bleeding in the first place.  Both would probably taint you even if the wardens didn't behead you.

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