The philosophical ins-and-outs of one person’s taking another person’s life—a nicety that seems rarely considered in actual events—was beyond them. The point needs clarification: they could not have discussed it. The literature on the subject, the annotated codes of law prescribing the provocations and instances of retribution, the history of the matter—all of history with all its precedents pro and con—were unavailable, unreadable, and incomprehensible to them. They faced the subject anew.
