The Ethics of Capital Punishment Essays -- Papers

The Ethics of Capital Punishment Ethics is "the study of standards of right and wrong; that part of philosophy dealing with moral conduct, duty and judgement.'[1] Capital Punishment is 'the death penalty for a crime.'[2] The word "capital" in "capital punishment" refers to a person's head as in the past; people were often executed by severing their head from their body. Since the early 1800's, most executions have resulted from convictions for murder. The death penalty has also been imposed for such crimes as armed robbery, kidnapping, rape and treason. Some people believe that capital punishment is necessary for punishing people that have committed any type of crime, much of the time because these people want justice; others think that capital punishment is only necessary in extreme cases, such as murder, while others believe that it is wrong and shouldn't be aloud to take place. Amnesty International's thoughts on the death penalty is that it is 'cruel, inhumane and degrading punishment and a violation of the right to life'[3]. In extreme cases, I believe that people should be punished. People who commit crimes such as murder (mass or only an individual killing), rape and kidnapping should all be punished for what they have done. For example, the current issue with the Balibombings "mastermind". Amrozi Bin Nurhasyim is up for trial and if proven guilty, the death penalty will be imposed. Although he himself believes that he is a hero, I believe that as he killed so many and injured many more, the death punishment is the only fitting and adequate punishment. Many people oppose the death penalty because they consider it cruel.... ... that Capital Punishment is the best way to go to punish people who murder and commit other drastic crimes. I believe that murders should have the Death Penalty imposed to punish them for taking someone else's life, although everyone has their own opinion and that is fine to have a different opinion. Whether Capital Punishment is ethical is also up to your own beliefs, and I hope this essay has given you an insight into Capital Punishment and helped you determine you own opinion. --------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] World Book Online Dictionary - http://dictionary.worldbookonline.com/wbol/wbDict?lu=ethics [2] World Book Online Dictionary - http://dictionary.worldbookonline.com/wbol/wbDict?lu=capital%20punishment [3] Amnesty International Report "The Death Penalty"