Part 1: Introduction

Capital punishment is a highly controversial topic in the United States. The death penalty is served to be the legally authorized killing of someone that has been proven guilty for committing the most heinous crimes. The question here is it morally justified to take the life of someone else? A state where a capital offense occurred has to be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant deliberately meant to kill their victim, but how does one know if the crime was premeditated? Some argue that capital punishment is sufficient because it keeps murderers from killing again. Others could bring up the fact that once a person has been tried for capital murder and found guilty, they are no longer a threat to our society because they are incarcerated (Thames, 2018). There is also the possibility of the wrongful killing of an innocent person.

People have stated that the death penalty violates the constructional guarantee of equal rights, and people argue the fact that capital punishment is unjust and unfair because some people cannot afford to pay for a decent attorney to represent them in court. Law officials have said that the death penalty is one of the least effective forms of crime control, and A large amount of evidence shows that the death penalty has no more of a deterrent than imprisonment (Thames,2018). Those who do support capital punishment say that the death penalty can be an example to help keep others in our society from committing certain crimes, like first-degree murder, if they know that their possible sentence could be death (Thames, 2018). Many believe that it is a waste of ttaxpayer’s dollars keeping prisoners alive, more than it would cost to execute them. Capital punishment is meant to give victims and their families a sense of justice, and the death penalty also has the potential to save the lives of many innocent people. Today we are going to look at the ethical argument on capital punishment between a virtue ethicist and a deontological standpoint.

Part 2:Ethical Argument

Today we are going to look at the ethical argument on capital punishment between virtue an ethicist and a deontological standpoint. There are many different opinions from both sides of the debate. The question is it right for someone to lose their life, or can a criminal be redeemed for the crimes that they have once committed? There a few states in the U.S. were capital punishment is still permitted. Is the ultimate sentence for the ultimate crime death? According to virtue ethics, capital punishment is morally wrong and inhumane, but the deontological outlook on the issue would disagree that the death penalty is ethically permissive. I side with the virtue ethical theory that capital punishment is an unjust form of punishment.

Part 3: Explanation and Defense

Virtue Ethics was a theory of ethics that was founded by Aristotle. According to Aristotle's approach claims that morality is that which is doing what it is in one's nature to do. In this case, the death penalty would not have been permitted. The way virtue ethics looks at capital punishment differently than other ethical theories because virtue ethics does not just look at the person's action, and it also examines the person's life as well. So, in this case, if someone were to murder another person, they would go back and judge the moral character of the one who committed the crime and then determines the type of punishment that would be acceptable.

Part 4: Objection and Response

In supporting the death penalty, the ethical theory that is most supportive is Deontology. Immanuel Kant was an 18th- century German philosopher that uses the deontological moral philosophy that actions are right if performed as a duty, and he wrote about the Categorical Imperative that humanity’s moral responsibilities to act consistently and to treat everybody with respect (Thames, 2018). The ethical theory Deontology has the argument that everyone is obligated to have specific moral duties to abide by and respect regardless of the situation, or even who the person is and what the person may be having, or no matter even what the consequences of doing so maybe (Thames,2018). The duties might come from culture, or religious tradition, or human nature, or the view of the world itself, is regarded as essential to what it means to make free rational choices (Thames, 2018). An example of deontology would be that an older sibling may believe that their moral duty is to take actions that protect their younger siblings as long as the effects do not violate another duty or obligation (Thames, 2018).

According to the deontology theory, based on a duty, that it is always wrong to intentionally kill another human being, unless under certain circumstances (Thames, 2018). The deontological moral views that it is okay to kill another human being as long as it is to protect yourself and other innocent lives (Thames). Immanuel Kant's (1797/1996) categorical imperative argument to support capital punishment appeals to the notion of retribution, which is punishing someone according to what they deserve Thames, 2018). In other words, “An eye for an eye’’ (Thames, 2018). If we were to use the universal maximum by the categorical imperative and use the policy of proportional retribution, which you do not have to inflict the perpetrator with the same kind of harm that they committed but should still be proportionate to it in severity (Thames, 2018).

Therefore a deontologist believes that it is morally permissive to kill another, and killing someone that has committed murder would be in the best interest of others because the criminal has the potential to kill again.

Part 5: Conclusion

In conclusion, virtue ethics is the ethical theory that would support that capital punishment is wrong and inhumane. It is not right to take anyone else's life no matter what the circumstances may be. People do not always make the right choices in life, but that does not been that they cannot be redeemed for the crimes that they have committed. Hopefully, in the future, the entire United States will be the type of country that will do away with capital punishment altogether.