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Intricacies of ethics
Intricacies of ethics
Capital punishment in the justice system
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"Dead Man Walking" is a film in which a convicted killer is on death row who eventually meets and forms a bond with a nun. While watching the film many questions were brought up, the main one being whether Matthew Poncelet, who is partially responsible for the death of a high school couple and rape of the female victim, should face the death penalty. The film ultimately answers the question for us with him being denied in the appeal court and is eventually executed. Now while the film killing Matthew is justified, I wonder to myself was his death ethically justifiable? Since ethics has many ways of approaching a situation such as this I would like to only apply ethical conventionalism to this scenario. For those unaware, ethical conventionalism
Even though George Romero, director of the film, Night of the Living Dead, did not intentionally intend to create racial controversy, the film broke a lot of ground considering the year it was filmed in 1968. By making a black character, Ben, the most intelligent and resourceful of all the white characters, as well as the protagonist, Romero, shattered racist stereotypes in the horror movie genre as well as mainstream film. This was mainly due to the fact that Night of The Living Dead was one of the first films to follow a black protagonist who was filmed in a positive light. Ben’s personality was possibly the most subversive aspect of the whole film. Ben was a brave and quick-witted character who was able to see what needed to get done in order to ensure survival from the zombies. The fact that Ben was portrayed as the most composed character, especially out of the cast of distraught white characters only emphasized his position as the most important character. Without Ben, the other characters would have most likely died. Overall, despite the fact that Night of the Living Dead did not intend to make a racial statement, I believe it ended up symbolizing the progress African Americans made during the civil rights movement, yet certain points in the film such as the power dynamic between Ben and Harry, the zombies attacking Ben, Ben’s death scene, and the photographs at
Is it justifiable to inflict the death penalty on individuals who have committed murder? As majority would have it, yes. There are many arguments in favor of capital punishment. Some of these include taking a murderer out of this world once and for all, and saving money that would be spent on them if they were given a life sentence, as well as the majority rule of citizens of the United States wishing it to stay. In Truman Capote’s nonfiction novel, In Cold Blood, Dick and Perry were assigned the death penalty for the cruel murders of four members of the Clutter family in a small town in Kansas. Not only did this pair of men deserve what they got, but it is also better for the state that they were executed.
Dead Man Walking is a great book that deals with one of our nations most controversial issues: capital punishment. The books narrator, Sister Helen Prejean, discusses her personal views on capital punishment. She was a spiritual advisor and friend to two death row inmates; Elmo Patrick Sonnier and Robert Lee Willie. From her experiences, she developed views on the death penalty. She believed it was morally wrong and spoke openly about it. Sister Helen successfully defends her views on capital punishment while stating that capital punishment should be illegal. Her experiences have taught her that although these criminals were dangerous and deadly, and that their crimes were inexcusable, a death sentence should not be the answer.
In comparing ethical issues surrounding the journalists in “All The President’s Men” and “Welcome To Sarajevo”, there are several ethical issues that the journalists experienced. Ethics are an important aspect of journalism, since journalists face a multitude of ethical issues within their industry. Therefore, there are ethical guidelines that journalists’ use called “The Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics” [SPJ Code of Ethics]. When analyzing how the journalists in “All The President’s Men” and “Welcome To Sarajevo”, one can refer to the SPJ Code of Ethics to observe the possible ethical issues the journalists experienced. The four main concepts in the SPJ Code of Ethics are: seek truth and report it, minimize harm, act independently,
...hould need to know more. The argument of justice is so strong and decisive that this one argument is enough to introduce the death penalty (Anderson 26).” The movie Dead Man Walking portrays the life of a man living on death row. However, I disagree with some of the concepts the movie presents. I believe that the death penalty has great advantages in which the movie disagrees with. All in all the death penalty eliminates the harmful people in our world and saves the innocent.
Philosophy is at the center of human thinking and everyday life, whether one is consciously recognizing it or not. Philosophy fosters critical thinking and provides a structure so one can think and answer basic questions about life on their own accord. The Departed uses several different philosophical theories throughout the film to develop the characters and the plot. These philosophies include Authenticity versus Bad faith, Nietzche’s doctrine of The Will to Power, and Martin Heidegger’s Being-Toward-Death.
Since the beginning of modern law, capital punishment has been present in our world. Ranging from the guillotine to lethal injection, over time people have discovered more “humane” ways to execute a convicted criminal. Opinions on the subject may vary depending on certain situations, such as the victim being a family member or close friend. Although there are solid pro-arguments for the death penalty I believe there is enough evidence that implies it should not be legal in any way, shape or form.
It has been shown that the topic is and still remains to be controversial. In one instance, and from the view of the retributivists, the death penalty is seen as the appropriate course of action. In another it is seen as immorally wrong and a complete disregard for human life and human rights, with the latter forming the key basis of this argument, which will now be further discussed and analysed using the ethical theory of utilitarianism.
should be moral because, " a life for a life." Is the death penalty immoral?
The film Dead Man Walking focuses on the controversial topics surrounding the death penalty and whether or not the legal system possess the right to kill a person as punishment for a crime. The movie is about Matthew Poncelet on death row and his struggles while awaiting his execution. The death penalty was reinstated in the United States in 1976, and some states have chosen to do away with executions, even with the development of lethal injection. In Tim Robbins’ movie Dead Man Walking, he employs characters to convey how the death penalty eliminates the possibility of rehabilitation, the way a punishment fits the crime, and the guarantee that killers cannot kill again to strengthen death penalty arguments throughout the movie.
Some people might think that it’s immoral to kill someone without natural cause. The goal for Euthanasia is to provide a person a way to relieve extreme pain or when a person life is just going downhill for them. This also help’s free up medical funds to help other people. In other cases it could be a freedom of choice if the patients wants to end their life without going through anymore suffering. A lot of argument is over if Euthanasia devalues life or if it is against human moral to take another life. While a person decisions does play a role in this, most of the time it will be a physician choice to see if the patient should live or
According Richard Gula, active euthanasia is legally considered homicide (5). Another intervention and approach to euthanasia could be through the use of analgesic means. The use of morphine or other anesthetic medication could be used to allow the patient to die or hasten their dying process. I consider the latter procedure to be more humane than that of the other because it is morally wrong to kill a person, rather it's humane for someone to die naturally. Before I discuss the rights and wrongs of euthanasia, I will define death or a person, when is it safe to say...
The death penalty also known as capital punishment has existed for centuries in countries throughout the world. It is an execution primarily by means of lethal injection. Whether through death penalty or murder taking a life is wrong. Many consider it to be unethical and immoral. The death penalty system is not perfect and taking the life of an innocent citizen can be an irrevocable mistake. The death penalty wrongly gives the government the power to take human life and may cause social injustice.
Ethics and morality are the founding reasons for both supporting and opposing the death penalty, leading to the highly contentious nature of the debate. When heinous crimes are com...
To this day, whether capital punishment is ethical and justifiable continues to be disputed. Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the act of killing or executing a person who was found guilty of a heinous crime, by the government. In ancient times, it was used to punish a variety of offenses. Once it’s done, there 's no going back, that 's why it 's considered the ultimate punishment for crime. The alternative to this would be life in prison without parole. While many nations have done away with this, others continue to implement this punishment.