Exam 20: The Death Penalty

Write an essay critically assessing the principle of lex talionis. State the principle and describe how it could be applied to assess the morality of capital punishment. Then, present Nathanson's objections to the principle. Does Nathanson succeed in refuting the principle? Defend your answer.

A punishment that will hurt the criminal no more than is necessary in order to get the beneficial effect of crime prevention is what kind of punishment?

Which of the following is not a response to the Argument from Discrimination discussed in this chapter?

According to Primoratz, why do we treat all human lives, qua human lives, as equally valuable?

Van den Haag claims that in implementing the death penalty, we must risk something certain for something uncertain. What is the certain thing?

Some opponents of the Argument from Just Deserts claim that if no one freely chooses to do anything, then

Case Study Simon grew up poor and with little adult care in South Central Los Angeles. He was jumped into a street gang when he was 15 years old. When he was 18, some older gang members demanded that he kill a shopkeeper who had witnessed them committing a serious crime. The shopkeeper was a father of four and a beloved community leader. Simon planned and carried out the brutal murder. A security camera caught the heinous crime. Sam was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to death. For the past 25 years, Simon has been on death row. In that time, he sought spiritual counsel from the prison chaplain and repented for his crime. He committed himself to a life of prayer and service. Simon took advantage of a prison seminary program and became ordained. Since then, he has been ministering to fellow inmates in need of counsel. Simon has read a great deal during his time on death row, and this inspired him to write a memoir about his life and his crime that he hopes might help promote positive change in communities like the one he grew up in. -Should the religious deeds Simon has done during his time on death row or his devotion to social change affect his punishment? Why or why not?

Talk about: -Aggravated murder

How does van den Haag respond to the claim that the death penalty is different from other penalties because it is irrevocable? How do you think the fact that the death penalty is irrevocable should affect the decision about whether it is ethically permissible?

Talk about: -Discriminatorily

Which of the following is a retributivist justification for the death penalty?

Talk about: -Abolitionists

What is the principle of proportional retributivism? Do you think that it is a plausible principle? Compare it to other theories of punishment. Does proportional retributivism give us good reason to accept or reject capital punishment? Why or why not?

Which of the following does Primoratz offer as a response to the objection that the death penalty is applied in a discriminatory way?

Which theory of punishment is not used to defend the death penalty?

What is van den Haag's position about statistical evidence for the deterrent effect of the death penalty?

Which of these practices appears to be a counterexample to the claim that if we know that a social practice will result in killing innocents, then it is immoral and ought to be abolished?

What symbolic meaning does Nathanson think that abolishing the death penalty would have? Do you agree that getting rid of capital punishment would have this sort of meaning? Is this a good reason to abolish the death penalty? Why or why not?

Present what you take to be the strongest objection to the moral permissibility of executing murderers. How does Primoratz respond to this objection? Or, if he doesn't respond, how should he respond? Do you think the objection is successful in showing that capital punishment is immoral? Why or why not?

Which of the following is an objection to the Basic Deterrence Argument considered in this chapter?