3.6 Capital Punishment Flashcards
Social reason for capital punishment
Retribution states that you should be punished if you do wrong. However punishment of death depends of how much you value life. To say that capital punishment shouldn’t be allowed is undervaluing human life. So all those who value human life should be in favour of capital punishment
Social reason For capital punishment 2
Utilitarians believe that as long as capital brings about the greater good through deterrent and reparation for the family of the victim then capital punishment is allowed.
Social reason against capital punishment
Humans are fallible and make mistakes but with capital punishment there is no way back. This means we should resist from making irreversible decisions as fallible humans.
Social reason against capital punishment 2
It is expensive as a concept to run and already being a sceptical decision of allowed or not, the cost is a large factor to say it shouldn’t be run
Religious reason for capital punishment
The right to life only applies to persons. The murder, rapist etc should no longer be considered a person and should not apply to the right to life. “An evil man is worse than a beast” - Thomas Aquinas
Religious reason for capital punishment 2
Without capital punishment humanity would not have been saved. Jesus’s sacrifice of death through the state atoned for out sins and without that we would still be lost in sin.
Religious reason against capital punishment
Capital punishment violates the sanctity of life. “imago dei”
Religious reason against capital punishment 2
Murder is prohibited in the Decalogue.
Reply to murder being prohibited in Decalogue
By definition murder is unlawful killing. Capital punishment is done by the state, therefore capital punishment is lawful. Therefore capital punishment is not murder. Therefore capital punishment is not prohibited in the Decalogue.
