Drunk Driving Is Bad

More often than not, those who commit crimes are thrown behind bars. Whether that means spending a night in jail, or being sentenced to federal prison, they have to pay for their negative actions somehow. In this paper, I will be talking about whether or not wrongdoers who suffer from their actions is a good or a bad thing.

First of all, what makes something good or bad is a matter of perspective. According to chapter 8 of John Rachel’s, “The elements of Moral Philosophy,” an action that is ‘good’ results in happiness, utilitarians would say. The hedonistic view is quite similar stating that, “pleasure is the one ultimate good, and pain is the one ultimate evil.” Since suffering is a state of undergoing pain and unhappiness, it simply cannot

An example, a drunk driver who accidentally loses control of the vehicle and kills a pedestrian or even one of his/ her own passengers in the car. Although they are the definition of a wrongdoer, for they are ‘a person who behaves illegally,’ the amount of suffering they will undergo is most likely greater than any amount of happiness they will eventually feel due to their remorse, which is bad. Should they be punished for willingly drunk driving, which resulted in the death of another person? Yes. If not, it is possible that they will do it again. If there are no consequences, then wrongdoers will never learn their lesson. Punishment is necessary, but not morally good because it creates unhappiness and

In the scenario above, the driver went against the harm principle, because he/ she caused harm to other people. In my opinion, even if their suffering is say, ‘deserved,’ it doesn’t mean it’s a good thing. A counter example, a psychopath who feels no remorse after inflicting harm on others, should also be punished. For he/ she will probably not suffer with the guilt of taking another life, due to the fact that they intentionally chose to do