Kant And The Death Penalty Essay

n most countries today, the death penalty still exists in one form or another. It is normally reserved in Europe, for high treason and war crimes, although in America it is slightly more common. Immanuel Kant was emphatically in favor of the death penalty for the crime of murder, as anyone who knows anything about Kant is likely to know his views towards this matter. After a close analysis of Kant’s perspective, it can be said that Kant’s forms of punishment are a violation of humanity.
Kant believes in strict adherence of the laws established within a society, stating that
“everything in nature works according to laws” (Kant). It is a person’s obligation to follow the law and his civil duties are derived from what the law expect of …show more content…
It seems that both Kant and a Utilitarian would agree upon the importance of overall societal safety, happiness and order. Kant’s support of the death penalty stems from the idea that if any of these three things are disrupted by an individual, that individual should be put to death.
A Utilitarian might not agree so strongly to this because they deem capital punishment to be acceptable only if the good to the society outweighs the pain inflicted upon the individual for a certain situation. Kant’s distinctions between immoral and moral cases are more clear cut that that of a Utilitarian and so this could lead to disagreement for specific cases on whether the death penalty would be moral or immoral.
I believe that capital punishment is a way for society to dispose their unwanted criminals
I believe that it is uncivil and inhumane to kill someone regardless of the reason and to physically make them suffer. As humans we should all be given a second chance to correct our mistakes rather than stigmatizing individuals and taking one’s fate into our own hands.

References Avaliani, A. (2004). Kant-The death penalty. Retrieved from