Capital punishment - Ethical views on capital punishment
Ethical arguments for and against an issue can be divided into consequentialist, deontological and virtue-based. Some arguments cannot be clearly assigned a category.
Categorisation of arguments for and against the death penalty.
1. Consequentialist arguments: the deterrence argument, the prevention argument, economic arguments, effectiveness of the judicial and penal systems
2. Deontological arguments: the retribution argument, discriminatory use of the death penalty, right-to-life arguments, consideration of democratic rights
3. Virtue-based arguments: the rehabilitation argument, cruel and unusual punishments,
4. Mixed arguments: the human fallibility argument, extreme cases and exceptional circumstances
In most surveys of people's reasons for supporting the death penalty, retribution is listed as the main reason while deterrence comes second.
Capital punishment - The Deterrence Argument
Proponents of the death penalty argue that it deters potential murders. Opponents of the death penalty argue that it does not in …show more content…
Absolutist arguments hold that the death penalty, in whatever form, is especially cruel and therefore wrong. Relativist arguments hold that specific forms of the death penalty are excessively cruel. Relativist arguments can be countered by developing new methods of execution, or by arguing that the alternatives are even more cruel. Proponents argue that the current application of the death penalty is humane. Arguments turning on the cruel and unusual nature of the death penalty are virtue-based arguments. The United States Supreme Court has never held a specific capital punishment method as being "cruel and