This post is based on a tweet by Philo-Experiments and also an essay on the topic of punishment.
The news story which is linked to in the above tweet is one which made me think. In Japan, the condemned prisoner is not told when they will be executed, nor do they get the opportunity to have their execution witnessed by their relatives.
After a very quick bit of research, there were 18 countries which executed a person in 2009, with the People’s Republic of China topping the table at an estimated 1700 prisoners executed in 2009 alone.
The use of a death penalty is advocated in many countries for the most sever of crimes such as murder and rape, however in some countries it is common to be executed for drug related offences. Even more shockingly, it is possible to be executed in China for theft, and in Iran for homosexuality.
Should a civilised society retain the death penalty?
According to the Catholic church, there are circumstances where the state can execute a prisoner, if that is the only way to defend society from the offender.
Personally, I cannot condone the use of execution in civilised society. I cannot get past the problems of execution being the killing of one person by another.
A key part of society is maintaining social order, and whilst execution for murder and drug trafficking could be argued to help keep that order I do not feel the same can be said for executing a homosexual, and to some extent a thief.
To consider the use of execution, a society must ask itself a very important question: Does this really rebalance the situation?
If, for instance, a man has murdered his wife and children. Detaining him indefinitely will do the same for society as executing him. All his detention or execution will do is protect society from that individual. In both cases, he is no longer a danger to the general public. However, one punishment would probably cost society less financially.
This may be the heart of the issue for some. It is economically better for the state if that individual was to be executed, as they would not have the associated costs of imprisonment for the duration of that persons natural life.
What are your views on the use of the death penalty?
“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”
Mahatma Gandhi
