Philosopy- Death penalty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Philosopy- last penalty - Essay ExampleIgor Primoratz, in Justifying Legal Punishment and Ernest Van den Haag, in On Deterrence and the Death Penalty agree with abolitionists in part. Both admit that flaws in the system exist but submit that these issues could be diminished or eliminated. Each reference presents compelling philosophical reasoning for continuing the death penalty. Of course, justifying a wrong does not make it right.The pursuit of justice is universally perceived a clean endeavor therefore, according to Primoratz, punishment must be considered moral as well. His theory of morally condoned payment, the retributive theory, draws credibility by using a reiterate from the Bible which encourages use of the death penalty. (Primoratz, 1989). There are many quotes from the Bible that seemingly condone retribution for murder, the often quoted an eye for an eye for example. Those that subscribe to retribution as justification for the death penalty often invoke this particu lar Bible reference. Aggression must be met with aggressive punishment. Interestingly, those that use the quote from the antiquated Testament to justify the use of the death penalty as a moral punishment either overlooked or ignored the passage in the New Testament where Jesus rebuffs this statement explicitly then reminds his followers to instead to turn the other cheek.Keeping the debate in the arena of the ghostly who validate their own bias by pulling from the Bible, the term retribution is a simile for revenge. Those that oppose capital punishment believe that every life sentence should be valued and that imprisoning a person for life without the possibility for parole is adequate punishment. Opponents also think that revenge is wrong and ultimately more bad to the value system and very fabric of society than is the crime itself. In addition, opponents feel that outlawing the death