Taylor Marie Hobson
Instructor Name
Phil-7
December 12, 2016
Legal Punishment
Legal punishment is all arounds us, however the one well known form of legal punishment that is associated with human individuals whether through personal experience, or hearing something on TV, is imprisonment. Legal punishment can be specifically marked as a punishment that follows a specific legal rule, punishments such as the going to prison, corporate punishment, and ultimately the death penalty. Legal punishment, especially the death penalty is important and should be fully supported and actively used to ensure safety, justice and to deter possible crimes in the future.
When it comes to legal punishment there two main arguments that can be brought about, the …show more content…
When it comes to capital punishment there are a lot of reasons in both arguments mentioned above as to why they support capital punishment as well as multiple reasons these arguments can be questioned. Like in the readings by Ernest Van Den Haag and Hugo Bedau in the book Ethics by author Barbara Mackinnon they both have two separate views on capital punishment, with Earnest Van Den Hagg he is in support of the death penalty and in his writing he points out several points to defend his position on the death penalty. One of his first arguments is that with the death penalty or punishments in general being an option to act as a …show more content…
The concept of Utilitarianism is the concept of which an action is justified if it promotes happiness. In my case legal punishment or even more specific the death penalty is acceptable. With the deterrent argument it is acceptable because it is preventing others from doing harm and discouraging individuals to commit a crime. With the retributivist approach, it is justified because it can bring happiness or at least reassurance to the victims or society, like with my example of child rape that I previously mentioned. Another moral theory to take into consideration is Kantianism, according to csus.edu Kant was for two reasons about punishments and the way it is handled, the first was “People should be punished simply because they have committed crimes, and for no other reason.” And second is “Punishment should be proportionate to the crime” (“Punishment”). With Kantianism it seems that Kant’s two reasons can be categorized under the retributivist argument and not really with the deterrent argument. I think between the two I would pick Kantianism because I agree that punishment should be equal to the crime. I think that both of these theories fit well with legal punishment, I think legal punishment and specifically the death penalty is something that needs to be actively used and executed. Although not perfect I believe that legal punishment is the
Instructor Name
Phil-7
December 12, 2016
Legal Punishment
Legal punishment is all arounds us, however the one well known form of legal punishment that is associated with human individuals whether through personal experience, or hearing something on TV, is imprisonment. Legal punishment can be specifically marked as a punishment that follows a specific legal rule, punishments such as the going to prison, corporate punishment, and ultimately the death penalty. Legal punishment, especially the death penalty is important and should be fully supported and actively used to ensure safety, justice and to deter possible crimes in the future.
When it comes to legal punishment there two main arguments that can be brought about, the …show more content…
When it comes to capital punishment there are a lot of reasons in both arguments mentioned above as to why they support capital punishment as well as multiple reasons these arguments can be questioned. Like in the readings by Ernest Van Den Haag and Hugo Bedau in the book Ethics by author Barbara Mackinnon they both have two separate views on capital punishment, with Earnest Van Den Hagg he is in support of the death penalty and in his writing he points out several points to defend his position on the death penalty. One of his first arguments is that with the death penalty or punishments in general being an option to act as a …show more content…
The concept of Utilitarianism is the concept of which an action is justified if it promotes happiness. In my case legal punishment or even more specific the death penalty is acceptable. With the deterrent argument it is acceptable because it is preventing others from doing harm and discouraging individuals to commit a crime. With the retributivist approach, it is justified because it can bring happiness or at least reassurance to the victims or society, like with my example of child rape that I previously mentioned. Another moral theory to take into consideration is Kantianism, according to csus.edu Kant was for two reasons about punishments and the way it is handled, the first was “People should be punished simply because they have committed crimes, and for no other reason.” And second is “Punishment should be proportionate to the crime” (“Punishment”). With Kantianism it seems that Kant’s two reasons can be categorized under the retributivist argument and not really with the deterrent argument. I think between the two I would pick Kantianism because I agree that punishment should be equal to the crime. I think that both of these theories fit well with legal punishment, I think legal punishment and specifically the death penalty is something that needs to be actively used and executed. Although not perfect I believe that legal punishment is the