Only “primitive” people would assume that “decent” people necessarily eschew assassination, regardless of the despot’s international role.
Or you know deontologists and some virtue ethicists.
As I think about it, I can’t dismiss that this aspect might have been what offended Wittgenstein, who does not appear to have been completely honest; to my ear, he sounds personally offended. What offended him, we might guess, is that Malcolm was insinuating that Wittgenstein’s approval of such an endeavor was indecent. (A point on which Wittgenstein was, I think, sensitive and which would offend most people when directed toward them.)
Or you know deontologists and some virtue ethicists.
Seems plausible actually.
They would still have to be ‘primitive’ deontologists and virtue ethicists.
I suppose.