L30 Phil 131F Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Gas Chamber, Consequentialism, Retributive Justice
12 Dec 2018
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Document Summary
Capital punishment violates a murderer"s right to life. Capital punishment is disproportionate to other punishment. Innocent people are inevitably going to be killed. A punishment is justified only if it gives the criminal the justice he deserves. A criminal deserves to be deprived of the same value that they deprived their victims of. Retributive theory: when someone commits an offense they deserve to be punished justly. This theory is otherwise known as an eye for an eye . Biblical support: you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death; but he shall be put to death . Even if the conditions in jail are terrible, the murderer still will not have gotten their just punishment (what they deserve) Definition: the execution of someone convicted of a capital crime (murder, espionage, treason) Means of death penalty: lethal injection, electrocution, gas chamber, firing squad, hanging. Since punishment is a serious harm, it must be justified.
