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Kant Vs Bentham Essay

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The death penalty is an ongoing conflict people debate daily if it is right or wrong. Immanuel Kant and Jeremy Bentham have conflicting beliefs on how decisions should be made. It will be interesting to compare what Kant and Bentham would think about the death penalty. They both believe in doing good, but under different circumstances. Bentham focused on seeking pleasures for one self and others around. Kant focused on doing good wills, without using other people as a means of reward. I chose to analyze the death penalty, because it is a complex issue with many pros and cons. Bentham and Kant have views that are interesting to compare and contrast with any more moral problems. Jeremy Bentham’s main belief is to “seek pleasure for …show more content…

It seems hypocritical that one would kill someone for killing someone. I think one of Kant’s biggest beliefs was not to use another person as a means to give oneself more power. I do not believe the judge is trying to make himself more powerful executing a person, but they are using a person as a means to clear up prison space and to save money. If laws are universal, then the death penalty should also be looked at like killing is. On the other hand, I believe Bentham would believe in the death penalty. He believes in the greatest good for greatest amount of people. Kant would rebuttal this statement by saying you should not take someone’s life, even if it is for the greatest number of people. An example from Classic Philosophical Questions, Kant says as an example, if someone put a person in a room with five others and a gun and told the person to shoot someone for everyone to live, that person should not shoot the person because it would be taking someone’s life for someone else’s means (). Bentham also believed pleasures should outweigh pains. I am not sure how killing someone can ease the family of the victim’s pains. Therefore, the pleasures would not outweigh the pain regardless. I believe both bring up interesting points, but Kant has the upper hand over Bentham in this

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Immanuel Kant is an influential philosopher, known for his work in ethics and a supporter of the death penalty. According to Avaliani (2004), Kant developed the first scientific approach to capital punishment (Avaliani, 2004). His theory argues that if a crime violates social laws then it is punishable. If an individual commits murder, then their punishment must be death. Avaliani (2004), states that according to Kant 's theory of the death penalty, the court is justified in giving an offender, that has taken innocent life capital punishment.

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