Is the death penalty ever justified?

The Morality of Everyday Things: An Everyday Philosophy Podcast

In this episode, Jake and Ant look at the ethics of murdering a murderer.

We begin by chatting about the point of punishment - if we can't work out a justified aim of punishment, it's certainly hard to ever justify any punishment! We discuss the '5 theories of punishment' and their historical context (from Kant, to Bentham, to Michel Foucault). Following this, we discuss the particular issues around death (the sanctity of life and most importantly the irreversibility of death)!

We also consider some side-questions: should 'life-in-prisoners' have the option to opt for death row? Suicide rates are 4x higher in prison after all. Is there any amount of restitution that could serve justice, if the wrong-doer doesn't also suffer? What are the proportional limits of 'an eye for an eye'?

What are your thoughts, should we abolish the death penalty once and for all? Do let us know and chat to us on our facebook group :)

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