Capital Punishment – Is It Morally Intolerable?

             Throughout history capital punishment has been supported by most societies, often even for crimes we would consider minor. During this century, more and more people are regarding it as morally intolerable. Do I agree? That is a question that I have a hard time finding an answer to since I seem to be balanced between both perspectives. If this was a fair world and capital punishment was administered fairly, then yes, I would regard it as moral and would advocate it. Until it is administered fairly, I think I have to stick with my original belief and oppose the death penalty.
             Before I can agree if the moral issue addressed here is intolerable or not, I would have to explore other elements to the punishment such as: is it administered fairly, does it have an effective deterrent to crime, and should it be abolished. The ethics of the death penalty have been questioned as far back as the 18th century. The arguments of Cesare Beccaria condemned capital punishment as an ineffective and inhumane deterrent to crime, whereas philosopher Immanuel Kant claimed that execution was the fairest punishment for murder. Both arguments continue to spark the controversy to this day.
             Kant, a great advocate of the death penalty precisely on moral grounds, makes a point in a reply to the anti-capital punishment reformer Cesare Beccaria, accusing Beccaria of being moved by sympathetic sentimentally and an affection of humanitarianism. Kant stated that if we favor executing murderers it is not because we want to, but because however much we do not want to, we consider ourselves obliged to. Kant claimed that execution was the fairest punishment for murder, arguing that even guilt-ridden killers should die in order to gain release from their anguish. Kant believed that murderers must be killed based on the principle of "equal" or "just" retribution: What kind and what degree of punishment does public legal justice adopt as i...

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Capital Punishment – Is It Morally Intolerable?. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 07:11, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/97549.html