Argument against Execution of Capital Punishment Essay

Argument against Execution of Capital Punishment - Essay Example Utilitarian believe that it is not morally permissible to punish criminals in order to give them what they deserve by exacting retribution on them. They have a problem with retribution in as it advocates the infliction of suffering without any compensating gain for happiness. This paper is going to analyze the utilitarian’s support for capital punishment and then argue against that support.They are of the view that if the death penalty can deter, then there is an auxiliary argument for its use. The statistical evidence is inconclusive. According to common sense, there are reasons for believing that the death penalty deters some would-be murderers from murdering. Van den Haag’s is the best proponent of this view terming it as the ‘Best Bet’ argument. He said that, â€Å"If we value the saving of innocent lives more highly than the loss of the guilty, then to bet on a policy of capital punishment turns out to be rational.† By doing an effective cost be nefit analysis of capital punishment, we find that it has more disadvantages than advantages. To begin with, just by looking at the fact that those condemned to death do everything in their power to postpone it and to get their sentences reduced to long-term prison sentences, we are able to deduce that the death penalty is feared as an evil to be avoided. The society condemns murder as a serious offense. . Capital punishment is in itself murder as it involves killing. We can therefore deduce that capital punishment is murder, and therefore it is wrong.