Capital punishment has been a debatable subject for decades. Human thinking often ignores the equal-value relationship when it comes to the taking of life. Attention shifts from the victim’s life to that of the murderer. Immanuel Kant believes that moral laws apply equally, and if someone breaks the law, we should make sure that the law applies to everyone. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be such thing as morality. And without morality, life is meaningless. We should be morally strong and be able to kill the criminals, in order to prove that the laws are more important than human life.
On the other hand, John Stuart Mill states that breaking the law is part of utility. Although he thinks that the most appropriate punishment for a murderer is death, since the criminal is unworthy to live among mankind. Mill proposes that imprisonment with hard labor for life would be a much worse punishment. “ What comparison can there really be, in point of severity, between consigning a man to the short pang of a rapid death, and immuring him in a living tomb, there to linger out what may be a long life in the hardest and most monotonous toil, without any of its alleviations or rewards” (Mill 66). He is contradicting himself when making these two points.
According to Kant, a person is the subject whose actions can be imputed to him. “Only a rational being has the capacity to act in accordance with the representation of laws, that is, in accordance with principles, or has a will” (Kant 24). What differentiates us from animals is the ability of reasoning. Rational nature is distinguished from the rest of nature by this, that it sets itself an end (Kant 44). As murderers, death is the “end” which we have set for our lives and that’s exactly what we ...
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...e prevented and it will happen anyway? Capital punishment is a very touchy subject. Whenever it is brought up in discussions, it often causes arguments. People tend to take it personal and never get to an agreement. Still today, it isn’t legal in all parts of the world. But we cannot ever expect sure justice under the present governments. Killing a person after he or she has committed murder is from my point of view, the most logical thing to do. It might sound primitive, but it is the best way to punish a criminal. The cheapening of lives would be stopped and the equal value relationships will be taking into consideration.
Works Cited
• Mill, John Stuart, and George Sher. Utilitarianism. Second ed. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub., 2001. Print.
• Kant, Immanuel, and Mary J. Gregor. Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge UP, 1998. Print.
Kant, Immanuel, and Mary J. Gregor. Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge UP, 1998. Print.
The les talionis approach to capital punishment should not be limited only murder just because “the uniqueness of the crime has to do with the uniqueness of the value which has been deliberately destroyed” (Primoratz 357.) To approach one crime and punishment with a retributive mindset clearly fails Kant’s decree that “an action is permissible if the maxim can be universalized” (Vaughn 122.) If the punishment for murder is death, then all other punishment for any other crime should resemble the
In the essay titled “Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals” published in the Morality and Moral Controversies course textbook, Immanuel Kant argues that the view of the world and its laws is structured by human concepts and categories, and the rationale of it is the source of morality which depends upon belief in the existence of God. In Kant’s work, categorical imperative was established in order to have a standard rationale from where all moral requirements derive. Therefore, categorical imperative is an obligation to act morally, out of duty and good will alone. In Immanuel Kant’s writing human reason and or rational are innate morals which are responsible for helping human. Needless to say, this also allows people to be able to distinct right from wrong. For the aforementioned reasons, there is no doubt that any action has to be executed solely out of a duty alone and it should not focus on the consequence but on the motive and intent of the action. Kant supports his argument by dividing the essay into three sections. In the first section he calls attention to common sense mor...
Johnson, R 2014, ‘Kant's Moral Philosophy,’ The Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy (Spring Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), .
Kant, Immanuel. Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals. Trans. H. J. Paton. 1964. Reprint. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Thought, 2009. Print.
This country is determined to prove that killing someone under certain circumstances is acceptable, when in all reality there can be no rationalization for the taking of another human life. Killing is murder. It is as simple as that. There have been so many different controversies surrounding this debate that often, the issues become clouded in false statistics and slewed arguments. The basic fact remains that killing is morally and ethically wrong. This fact does not disappear by simply changing the term "murder" to "capital punishment". The act is still the taking of a life. On these grounds, the death penalty should be abolished.
Seventeenth century philosopher, Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) best summarized the justification for capital punishment with his theory of retributivism. In a famous passage, Kant says: “Even if a civil society resolved to dissolve itself with the consent of all its members--as might be supposed in the case of a people inhabiting an island resolving to separate and scatte
Before addressing the dilemma of capital punishment and its relation to Kant's "Respect for Persons" ethics, it is important to be informed of the background of this dilemma. A topic of growing and heated debate in today's society, capital punishment involves many more aspects than the average citizen may think. This controversial practice, which is also commonly referred to as the death penalty, is defined as the legally authorized killing of someone as punishment for a crime. Today, the federal government and thirty-two of the fifty states permit execution for first-degree murder. (Death Penalty Information Center) A majority of executions are carried out through lethal injection, but electrocution, hanging, the gas chamber, and firing squads are still legal in a few states. In states that allow for more than one option, death row inmates are allowed to choose their execution given qualifying circumstances. Under specific circumstances and in certain jurisdictions, treason, kidnapping, aggravated rape, felony murder, and murder while unde...
While one person lays with their wrists circumscribed to the worn leather of the gurney, another person holds two skin-piercing needles. The individual holding the needles is an inexperienced technician who obtains permission from the United States federal government to murder people. One needle is held as a precaution in case the pain is too visible to the viewers. Another dagger filled with a lethal dosage of chemicals is inserted into the vein that causes the person to stop breathing. When the cry of the heart rate monitor becomes monotone, the corrupt procedure is complete. Lying in the chair is a corpse when moments ago it was an individual who made one fatal mistake that will never get the chance to redeem (Ecenbarger). Although some people believe that the death
While we may all want murders off the street, the problem we come to face is that capital punishment is being used for vengeance or as a deterrent. Capital punishment has been used worldwide, not only by the governments to instill fear, but to show that there are repercussions to ones actions. From the time we are born, we are taught to learn the difference between right and wrong. It is ingrained in our brains, what happens to people that do bad things? Capital punishment is renowned for being the worst thing that could be brought amongst ones life.
Critiques of Kantian moralist theory such as Williams believe that Kant’s moral theory is characterized by Impartiality and unresponsiveness to any picky associations to picky person. Abstraction from specific characteristics of an agent is what is believed by the critiques as to be a qualification for a universal moral principle that can apply to similar
In Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, Immanuel Kant argues that human beings inherently have capability to make purely rational decisions that are not based on inclinations and such rational decisions prevent people from interfering with freedom of another. Kant’s view of inherent ability to reason brings different perspective to ways which human beings can pursue morality thus it requires a close analytical examination.
O’Neill, Onora. “Kantian Ethics.” A Companion to Ethics. Ed. Peter Singer. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 1991. 175-185. Print.
‘Kantian Ethics’ in [EBQ] James P Sterba (ed) Ethics: the Big Questions, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1998, 185-198. 2) Kant, Immanuel. ‘Morality and Rationality’ in [MPS] 410-429. 3) Rachel, James. The Elements of Moral Philosophy, fourth edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003.
Capital punishment is a kind of killing. Killing is morally unjustifiable except when necessary for protecting others. Capital punishment has some cause and effect. As I indicated before, capital punishment occurs when a person suffers the death sentence by the state as a punishment for crime. Capital punishment is helpful for society. It is helps to prevent crime and cut violations. Capital punishment is often defended on the grounds that society has a moral obligation to protect the safety and welfare of its citizens. We can see that Kant provides a clear and logical justification for death penalty. In light of the above causes and effects it is clear that we need some alterations for the death penalty. I think we should not punish a person by the death penalty even though it is really helping society to decrease crime. Death penalty is against the law and morality because it involves taking away the life of the person, which is against the natural rights. So we can find some solution to save our society from crime instead of the death penalty. We can follow the following steps below to abolish death penalty. Firstly, we should figure out the main cause of capital offences, which need to be addressed. This means that the issue of poverty, education, and others causes increase cases of capital offenses. This must be addressed. Secondly, we should improve our community’s policy. Community policing would help authorities to move fast and prevent the death penalty even before it has occurred. It has positive and negative effect also. It has deterrent