Capital Punishment :: essays research papers

Capital PunishmentThesis One In principle a case can be do on virtuous grounds both supporting andopposing capital punishment.Thesis two Concretely and in practice, compelling public debates against capitalpunishment can be made on the basis of its actual administration in our society.Two different cases can be made. One is based on justice and the nature of amoral community. This leads to a defense of capital punishment. The second isbased on love and the nature of an ideal spiritual community. This leads to arejection of capital punishment.JUSTICE AND THE disposition OF MORAL COMMUNITYA central principle of a just society is that every person has an equal right to" flavour, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Within that framework, anargument for capital punishment can be formulated along the following linessome acts are so vile and so destructive of community that they keep down theright of the perpetrator to membership and even to life. A community founded onmor al principles has certain requirements. The right to belong to a community isnot unconditional. The prerogative of living and pursuing the good life in societyis not absolute. It may be negated by behavior that undermines the nature of amoral community. The inhering basis on which community is built requires eachcitizen to honor the rightful claims of others. The utter and deliberate denialof life and opportunity to others forfeits ones own claim to proceedmembership in the community, whose standards have been so flagrantly violated.The preservation of moral community demands that the shattering of thefoundation of its existence must be taken with point seriousness. Thepreciousness of life in a moral community must be so highly honored that thosewho do not honor the life of others make null and void their own right tomembership. Those who violate the personhood of others, especially if this isdone persistently as a habit must pay the eventual(prenominal) penalty. This punishmen t mustbe inflicted for the sake of maintaining the community whose foundation has beenviolated. We can debate whether some non-lethal alternative is a fittingsubstitute for the death penalty. alone the standard of judgment is whether thepunishment fits the crime and sufficiently honors the nature of moral community.LOVE AND AN IDEAL SPIRITUAL COMMUNITYAgape, Christian love, is unconditional. It does not depend on the worthiness ormerit of those to whom it is directed. It is persistent in seeking the good ofothers regardless of whether they return the favor or even deserve to be interactwell on the basis of their own incessant wrongdoing.