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Ethical Decisions: Objectivism, Formalism, And Virtue Ethics

1147 Words5 Pages

Different Ethical perspectives use different reasoning and thoughts to determine whether a decision is ethical or not. In our scenario, a terrorist planned a bombing on a bus that was carrying school children. She added bolts and nails to create the most carnage possible, and made sure the bomb would go off after the bus was at full capacity. The bomb killed 14 children and wounded 24 more. She was later arrested, prosecuted, and sentenced to death. Each ethical perspective would consider different aspects of the death penalty decision to determine if it would in fact be considered ethical. Utilitarian Ethics, Religious Ethics, Dual-Life Value, Objectivism, Formalism, and Virtue Ethics determine ethical decisions differently. In the case of …show more content…

I believe that Objectivist would see the death penalty as morally permissible. Under Objectivism, Objectivist are against those who take by force and fraud. In this scenario, the terrorist took 14 lives by force simply for her own self interest. The murder of the 14 children also would an attack against the public, which would then give police, under objectivism, the right to retaliate since the terrorist attacked the public as a whole. Religious ethics is a system that I believe would fall directly in the middle. I believe that under this ethical system, one could argue both ways on whether the death penalty is morally permissible. On one hand, we have the rule to treat others as you want to be treated, and other bible passages such as Exodus 21:23-25 which could be use to support the death penalty. While others could argue that interpretations could be wrong. What if it is not our job to carry out this penalty, and it is God’s job to do the judging and penalizing. Since we must choose, I believe most people would argue against the death penalty under Religious Ethics. As a Christian, we are taught to often forgive those that sin against us. Forgiveness is a very strong theme throughout the Bible, and I believe that under religious ethics, most would believe that we need to leave it up to God to make those decisions, it is unethical for us to play God. Lastly, Dual-life value Ethics would …show more content…

Seeing that the death penalty does nothing in terms of future deterrence makes everything feel wrong. It is as if the death penalty provides no benefit to society. Furthermore, I feel like the death penalty allows us to play God. We suddenly get to decide who lives and who dies on a whim. I struggle to see this being okay when we have the cheaper option of life without parole. I also believe that the death penalty can offer an easy way out for some offenders, which is not right. I believe that life without parole creates an even stronger example of the inmate when they receive life sentences that are very long. Some families have to live the rest of their lives without their loved ones because of the offenders actions and I think the offender should have to think about those actions for a long time to

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Being on death row often prolongs the pain for the inmate. They spend their time in prison fearing the inevitable which for them is death. Today, we live in a society that is very divided on this issue. There are many in support of the death penalty, suggesting that it acts as a positive deterrent against future crime. There are also many

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This rule proved to be highly immoral, because it basically led one achieving and performing their revenge on another. Sentencing an individual to death for a crime they had committed, whether it be murder, rape, or another heinous crime, is using Hammurabi’s code. Individuals on death row were put there because members of the court believed that they had committed a crime worthy of death. By sentencing them to death, the court is committing a murder as well, even if it is of a guilty individual. Murdering or sentencing one to death row is not just, even if the individual is guilty of treason.

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The moral of the death penalty is that when someone commits a heinous crime, they should be prosecuted in a way that is equal to their crime. Robert Blecker, JD said that "We have the responsibility to punish those who deserve it, but only to the degree they deserve it...." This states that people should get what they deserve. If they go out and commit homicide or murder for fun they should get the same treatment. Losing someone can be tragic, but losing someone because a criminal killed them is even worse.

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I believe the positive outcomes outweigh the negatives because even though it is more cost efficient to give a life sentence to a criminal, you have the consequences of the criminal planning a way out of prison and put society in more harm than just sentencing the criminal to death and keeping the society at peace and safe. The other negative stated was some not guilty people were sentenced, while I believe it is not fair to them, but society is not perfect and will not be so keeping society at peace and safe is better than having someone on the lose if you are not sure if they may or may not be the criminal, therefore I am pro death

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334 Words | 2 Pages

I believe that death penalty is considered to be a cruel and unusual punishment. In my opinion, a life is priceless and shouldn 't be taken away without their willingness. All men are created equal- no man was made better than the other and therefore should not bring death on their life. On the other hand, I think that there are more reasons why people would support the death penalty.

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Ridley Scott’s film Blade Runner is known for its incredible use of very low key lighting, the dark appearance of the film not only exemplifies the futuristic L.A city but also ties the film in with a modernized film noir style. The low key lighting in combination with the neon lights and signs creates a correlation between the light and the dark, this represents the conflict throughout the film between humanity and the replicants. Investigating the lighting throughout the scene when Deckard, played by Harrison Ford, retires the replicant Pris, Played by Daryl Hannah; this scene incorporates a well placed combination of blue, white, pink, and green light to develop a dark but colorful environment. This mix between high key and low key lighting is vital to the visual development of the films central conflict and dangerous mood of the city. The scene opens with Deckard slowly moving through the doorway with his gun drawn as a light blue light rotates past in the background.

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We should choose the death penalty because I see it as taking a precaution to stop someone from taking any more innocent lives. Executing the murderers is the only way justice can be given to the person who was murdered and their families. If people knew that they would be killed themselves for murdering someone they would not do it because they would not want to

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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.

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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

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How would you feel if someone in your family was a criminal so the government killed them? You would feel awful wouldn’t you. We should not have the death penalty! We should not have the death penalty because it is unconstitutional and makes us look bad, families are in enough pain, and Criminals can be used for other things. The death penalty is one of the worsts things the government could do to us.

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767 Words | 4 Pages

Death penalty is like the ‘’tooth for a tooth – eye for an eye’’ theory. Instead of acting inhuman to our fellow beings we should find a better way to solve the mind of criminals. Making the problem vanish is not a good idea. We should do psychological researching instead! I, myself have a lot of faith in humanity.

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The Death Penalty, loss of life due to previous crimes and actions, is believed by some to be extremely costly, inhumane, and cruel unlike some others whom believe it is just, right, and provides closure. The Death Penalty is not a quick and easy process. Most who get sentenced to deaths row wait years for their ultimate punishment of death. Some believe that it is not right to punish and kill a human for actions they have done because, they believe that the inmate should have another chance. Then others believe that it is right to punish someone for their actions especially if their actions involve killing another or multiple humans.

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Should Death Penalty be abolished? Over decades people have been arguing about whether the death penalty should be abolished or not if death is morally right or cruel and unusual penalty. Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is a government-sanctioned practice whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for crime. Is it right to see people dying even though it’s under the act of government punishment?

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Death Penalty According to the 2010 Gallup Poll, 64% of the United State of America are supporting the death penalty, I as an American am part of that 36% that is against it. I do not believe that we as human being should determine whether another person should live or die. A second reason that I am against the death penalty is for the reason that the accused person could be innocent and normally the accused person only has one court presentation and is only judged by the judge not a jury of their peer, and is sent to death row where they pay for a crime that they haven’t done. My final reason that i do not believe that the death penalty should count as a punishment for the American people is because, a person that has done a massive massacre shouldn’t just be able to leave the world just like that without paying and suffering for what they have done, Or should the death punishment continue as it is for it has a great benefit to us as citizens of the United States.

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Generally, ethics is defined as the rule for carrying out certain behaviors by distinguishing between acceptable and unacceptable behavior (Resnik, 2015). In other words, ethics assists in determining whether a decision is right or wrong when given a choice. As a matter of course, decision-making is first predisposed by personal ethic that is constructed on personal experience and conscience (Fritzsche & Oz, 2007) . It tends to be affected by family and friends (Ferrell & Gresham, 1985). Not only does personal ethics guide human behavior but also social ethics (Shaw, 2002).

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