# Could you live in a society in which dueling was legal? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 5, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-live-in-a-society-in-which-dueling-was-legal/591618 "2011-08-05T17:55:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2011, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-live-in-a-society-in-which-dueling-was-legal/591618/61 "2011-08-20T00:02:02Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > ETA: Do you mean Malcolm Reynolds from _Firefly_? Because if so, his problem was that he didn’t understand the situation; that is, he thought he was being challenged to an ordinary fistfight, not a swordfight to the death. Monomachia’s laws would have worked fine for him. Inara’s suitor challenges him; he says, “I won’t fight with a sword or gun, but if you wanna throw hands, fine.” If the suitor really wants to fight, he has to agree to that, and Benny from LA Law would have been charged to make sure things didn’t get out of hand when the time came. The situation in the _Firefly_ episode was a bit different, in that Reynolds’ punch was considered a challenge to duel. None of this fancy-schmancy paperwork stuff on that planet! That’s why his opponent got to choose his favored weapon, and why Reynolds had no opportunity to decline. (Obviously, the other guy was intentionally trying to goad the ignorant offworlder into doing something that stupid …) The Monomachia rules sound a lot more sensible, and I could definitely live there myself. Don’t expect I’d be issuing any challenges, nor fielding any–I tend towards the ‘quiet and inoffensive’ end of the personality spectrum. Nor would I be buying tickets … but the fact that some other people around me were acting foolish wouldn’t give me any sleepless nights. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2011, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-live-in-a-society-in-which-dueling-was-legal/591618/62 "2011-08-20T14:09:14Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > I note that the setup doesn’t limit the duel to swords or pistols. > > Therefore, if challenged to a duel, I could accept … on the condition that we duel with **banjos!** I think you’ve said this before. Anyway, the setup limits your options to pistols, swords, or bare fists. To again quote Red Foreman, “If you’re not mad enough to bare-knuckle box, you’re not really mad.” ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2011, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-live-in-a-society-in-which-dueling-was-legal/591618/63 "2011-08-20T17:22:55Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > … > EDIT: Though now that I think about it, a banjo duel to the death might take an awfully long time… Not based on some of the playing I’ve heard. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-live-in-a-society-in-which-dueling-was-legal/591618/64 "2011-08-20T17:37:44Z")
It wouldn’t bother me at all, but I think letting defenders hire professionals renders it kind of pointless. Hiring someone to fight for you doesn’t save you any face, and nobody would challenge anyone who could hire a pro anyway. I don’t see how there could be any work for such people. There is nothing to gain by hiring them, and everything to lose by (essentially) challenging them. Ethically, though, I wouldn’t care. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2011, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-live-in-a-society-in-which-dueling-was-legal/591618/65 "2011-08-20T17:50:29Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > It wouldn’t bother me at all, but I think letting defenders hire professionals renders it kind of pointless. Hiring someone to fight for you doesn’t save you any face, and nobody would challenge anyone who could hire a pro anyway. I don’t see how there could be any work for such people. There is nothing to gain by hiring them, and everything to lose by (essentially) challenging them. > > Ethically, though, I wouldn’t care. As I wrote upthread, I suspect there’d be some serious social consequnces for an adult male in the prime of life and vigor hiring a champion. Only a culture that put a high value on machismo is going to allow duleing in the first place, after all. I expect allowing for champions was done so that women didn’t have to fight men. The rules listed in the setup are clearly part of a liberal plot to “reform” (i.e., discourage and ultimately destroy) the duelling tradition. The Ann Coulter of Monomachia probably write an op-ed piece decrying the new rules at least once a month. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-live-in-a-society-in-which-dueling-was-legal/591618/66 "2011-08-20T18:37:27Z")
I’m a bit late to this party but I would have to say “no”. Duelling in the US was never really ‘outlawed’ by any legal effort. Instead, society slowly came the revelation that duelling was a way for any drunken wastrel to make a name for themselves by deciding a more prominent citizen had ‘insulted’ them. When this very thing happened a few years before the Civil War people began to be aware that many folks who were challenging people to duels were less than stellar citizens and maybe should not be given free reign on the life and time of productive citizens. Duelling was also used to keep the press ‘in line’, especially in the US South. Who would say something against a rapacious citizen’s antics when they could pick and editor and make challenges. There were reasons that so many writers used aliases, and they weren’t always because they were being cute. Professional duellists would actually make the problem worse. Even if you don’t use them as substitutes they would be used to get in the mix. Worried that party ‘A’ might be thinking about challenging you to a duel? Hire someone to make a fuss and get them before they get you. ---
**Author:** ![Postariti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Postariti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Postariti)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-live-in-a-society-in-which-dueling-was-legal/591618/67 "2011-08-20T21:06:35Z")
I don’t where single women would have any reason to avoid this country. You keep bringing up machismo. To me that implies women aren’t even supposed to duel. So if I move to a country where I have no friends or relatives, what’s a little dueling to me? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-live-in-a-society-in-which-dueling-was-legal/591618.md?page=3)