Introduction
The death penalty or capital punishment is a term used to describe a scenario in which a purported criminal is executed following a proper legal trial for a particular crime. The death penalty is only allowable to a state. Thus, an execution carried out by other non-state organs like terrorist organizations cannot be termed as a death penalty or capital punishment, but rather a murder. In many countries, the death penalty is only given for grievous crimes like murder and treason. Nonetheless, other countries give the death penalty based crimes like adultery, some forms of fraud, and rape among others. The death penalty has been a highly contested issue that has a range of moral and ethical implications.
Argument in Favor of Death Penalty
Proponents of the death penalty argue that people who are responsible for committing crime and atrocities need to be punished for what they have done. More importantly, the idealist of this notion assert that anyone who is perceived to be guilty of committing a crime deserves to be punished. The argument …show more content…
The death penalty digresses from that notion, thereby devaluing the life of that individual. Some opponents to capital punishment strongly believe that no crime should be used to deprive an individual of their lives, irrespective of the offense. The second line of argument is that everyone has the right to live. Just because a person has taken the life of another or committed a crime that can be classified as capital crime, should be used as a premise to deprive the individual of his/ her life. Some may argue that individuals can forfeit their human rights to live, when they commit heinous crimes like taking the lives of other individuals. However, a bad act should not be changed by another bad act according to Thomas Aquinas. Executing an offender is like treating an illness with another illness, which is unethical in its
The death penalty or capital punishment is a term used to describe a scenario in which a purported criminal is executed following a proper legal trial for a particular crime. The death penalty is only allowable to a state. Thus, an execution carried out by other non-state organs like terrorist organizations cannot be termed as a death penalty or capital punishment, but rather a murder. In many countries, the death penalty is only given for grievous crimes like murder and treason. Nonetheless, other countries give the death penalty based crimes like adultery, some forms of fraud, and rape among others. The death penalty has been a highly contested issue that has a range of moral and ethical implications.
Argument in Favor of Death Penalty
Proponents of the death penalty argue that people who are responsible for committing crime and atrocities need to be punished for what they have done. More importantly, the idealist of this notion assert that anyone who is perceived to be guilty of committing a crime deserves to be punished. The argument …show more content…
The death penalty digresses from that notion, thereby devaluing the life of that individual. Some opponents to capital punishment strongly believe that no crime should be used to deprive an individual of their lives, irrespective of the offense. The second line of argument is that everyone has the right to live. Just because a person has taken the life of another or committed a crime that can be classified as capital crime, should be used as a premise to deprive the individual of his/ her life. Some may argue that individuals can forfeit their human rights to live, when they commit heinous crimes like taking the lives of other individuals. However, a bad act should not be changed by another bad act according to Thomas Aquinas. Executing an offender is like treating an illness with another illness, which is unethical in its