There are many arguments for and against capital punishment. Ernest van den Haag described some justifications for capital punishments. One of the main points he makes is even if the use of capital punishment is discriminatory leading to an unjust distribution, which he argues that it is not discriminatory, it should make no difference because it does not matter on the quantity of those executed, but it is more about the fact that these criminals are all guilty. Therefore it does not make sense to get rid of capital punishment on the basis that the system is discriminatory because those executed are guilty and therefore deserve their punishment. Another point he makes that ties into the first point is that making everything equal, such as making the amount of …show more content…
Bedau justified why we should not have capital punishment. The first point he makes is that capital punishment does not work as a deterrent. The death penalty does not work as a deterrent because it is extreme inconsistent. It takes years between when the ruling is given and when the criminal is executed. Another problem is capital punishment only works as a deterrent if the murder is premeditated. Therefore capital punishment does not work as a deterrent. Another point he makes is that capital punishment is irreversible. This ties into convicting innocent people. Once a person is dead there is no way to take back what is done or make up for it. Capital punishment does not allow for the mistake to be made of convicting an innocent person and sometimes the mistake is made and innocent people are executed. If these people had been given life in prison they might have been able to be given there lives back when found to be innocent. Lastly, Bedau talks about how executing someone because they killed someone is not necessarily right. Responding to a murderer by executing them does not make what the murderer did right. It also does not correct the wrong that was done by committing the same wrong
The most essential argument against the death penalty is that it is immoral. Regardless of how you look at it, the death penalty is slaughtering, and murder is never right! A further take a gander at the profound quality of the death penalty is required, on the grounds that albeit homicide is considered an ethical total, this is not generally the situation. This can be discussed through the virtue ethics theory. Virtue Ethics is the main non-defective theory of morals and was established by Aristotle.
Capital Punishment Punishment is the imposition of a penalty as retribution for a crime, and the retribution deserves those who do the crime. The main idea of this chapter is whether the killer deserves to die or not, and we ought to kill them or not. Stephen Nathanson argues against the punishment that leads to execution. He said that the actual and moral beliefs based on the death penalty are wrong and must be repealed. Many people said that the death penalty is the best way to deter murder and thus save lives.
The US Supreme Court’s decision on the abolition of capital punishment was correct because capital punishment violates the eighth and fourteenth amendments, provides no evidence of deterioration of crime rates, and falls unequally on society. Violates Eighth Amendment:
The death penalty sends a message to citizens; a message that says murder is not outrageous, unless the state is doing it as a sanction. This message helps to justify civilian killings of people believed to be deserving of death and may possibly even cause an uprise in vigilante style murders. This message also leaves an almost open air on what is wrong and provides no consistent moral ground for society to base their beliefs on. This does not mean that people will suddenly think murder is a favorable deed, but it may cause some to not realize how terrible it is. Joseph Summer wrote this in an article titled “Some Adverse Effects of the Death Penalty in History”: “…people learned 3 lessons from the government’s violent example: to use
As with many other controversial opinions both groups for, and against capital punishment have valid opinions. So let's dive into the philosophy of both sides and an
Capital punishment is not only immoral, but contradicting
There has been much controversy over capital punishment over the years. Few people in the United States see capital punishment as being wrong. It is said that Canada is way too easy on their criminals because they do not punish the convicts by the death penalty. Canada says that the United States is way to strict on their criminals because they execute their convicts by the death penalty. Should murderers be murdered for their crimes or should they spend the rest of their lives perishing in prison, that question may soon some day be correctly answered but for now it is strictly your own belief, possibly this essay may change your mind if you are for the death penalty.
Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is a legal process in which a person is put to death as a punishment for a crime by the government of a nation. The United States is in the minority group of nations that uses the death penalty. There are thirty-three states that allow capital punishment and seventeen states that abolished it (Death Penalty Information Center). The morality of the death penalty has been debated for many years. Some people want capital punishment to be abolished due to how it can cost a lot more than life imprisonment without parole, how they think it is immoral to kill, and how innocent people can be put to death.
There have been many controversies on the topic of capital punishment and its role within society. It is not likely that there will ever be a unified view on this topic. One of the first reasons why the death penalty should never be imposed is because of the possibility of killing an innocent person. True enough the DNA technology has decreased this probability but due to administrative bias innocent people can still be killed. There is no retribution for a dead man who was wrongly put to death.
I am not one to argue that capital punishment is without its flaws, nor am I one to argue that the death penalty is not inherently ugly in its entirety. I simply make the argument that the death penalty, or capital punishment, is a necessary evil. To accomplish this, I will begin by dissecting the arguments made by Stephen Nathanson in An Eye for an Eye. Nathanson states that for some crimes, it would not be considered morally acceptable to provide equal punishment to crimes committed. For example, I listed earlier that if we applied the equal punishment principle flatly across our justice system, it would require us to not only kill murderers, but also rape rapists, torture torturers, and kidnap kidnappers.
Although the death penalty may bring some closure to families of the victims and even the victims themselves it still should be abolished because the negatives outweigh the positives. People could be murdered by the state even if they are innocent. They are taking away any chance these people have at a normal life even though it's a life that they deserve and did nothing to have it taken away. 6. Conclusion
The first objection is that the death penalty does not "provide a measure of moral desert" (Nathanson). For the second, Nathanson states "it does not provide an adequate criterion for determining appropriate levels of punishment." The main objection is an "eye for an eye", or Lex talionis, and I believe it fails to support equality retributivism and creates punishments that are morally unacceptable. There is no way that
A deterrent is essentially something that convinces people to not do something. In this case, the deterrent would be the threat of the death penalty. By this logic, it will convince people to not commit crimes because of the threat of the death penalty. The reason I bring this up is deterrents are not immoral. The death penalty is a deterrent and a form of retribution at its core, so in that sense, it cannot be considered immoral.
Capital Punishment is the death penalty for those who commit murder. The thought behind this punishment is a life for a life. There has been debate on if the death penalty is right or wrong. Some poeple want the death penalty to be illegal while others argue it is needed to deter crime. There are many valid arguments regarding the death penalty.
The definition of capital punishment is stated as the legally authorized killing of someone as punishment for a crime; also known as the death penalty. The capital punishment is used in extreme cases for people who commit capital crimes, more commonly used in murder cases. There are five ways the death penalty can be executed: Lethal injection, electrocution, gas chamber, hanging, and the firing squad. One of the common reasons that the death penalty is supported is people feel that if the criminal is executed for his crimes it will prevent people from doing the same crime. However, is that really a soundproof reason to keep the death penalty legal?