Emerson Green | Why I Support Abolition of the Death Penalty @EmersonGreen | Uploaded 1 year ago | Updated 1 hour ago
In many ways, I'm the ideal audience for apologists of capital punishment. I believe in free will, I think human beings are responsible for their actions, I’m not opposed to retribution in all cases, I believe there are virtuous qualities to revenge, and I think some people deserve to die. However, none of that is enough to justify the death penalty system.
First, arguing that some people deserve to die is not sufficient to show that any particular institution (e.g. the state) should have the power and legitimacy to carry out executions. Second, capital punishment is not reconcilable with the principle of remedy: when mistakes are inevitably made, the punishment for the wrongly convicted cannot be brought to an end and they cannot be given damages. Third, the application of the death penalty will inevitably be morally arbitrary in some cases – either due to the morally arbitrary nature of the laws themselves, the enforcement of the law, or the imperfect determination of guilt. Since this is unavoidable, we cannot have the death penalty without murdering innocents. And since saving innocent life is far more important than ending the lives of the guilty, this should dissuade us from maintaining a death-penalty system. Finally, the virtuous qualities of revenge are absent in the death penalty system.
Linktree https://linktr.ee/emersongreen
Support at patreon.com/waldenpod & patreon.com/counter
Transcript emersongreenblog.wordpress.com/2022/12/07/why-i-support-abolition-of-the-death-penalty
Music by ichika Nito and used with permission.
Twitter @waldenpod
/ Timestamps /
00:00 Introduction
01:02 Defending the State
03:02 Moral Arbitrariness
06:00 The Principle of Remedy
08:15 What if we're certain?
10:46 Saving the Innocent vs. Killing the Guilty
15:28 Revenge
29:32 Final Considerations
In many ways, I'm the ideal audience for apologists of capital punishment. I believe in free will, I think human beings are responsible for their actions, I’m not opposed to retribution in all cases, I believe there are virtuous qualities to revenge, and I think some people deserve to die. However, none of that is enough to justify the death penalty system.
First, arguing that some people deserve to die is not sufficient to show that any particular institution (e.g. the state) should have the power and legitimacy to carry out executions. Second, capital punishment is not reconcilable with the principle of remedy: when mistakes are inevitably made, the punishment for the wrongly convicted cannot be brought to an end and they cannot be given damages. Third, the application of the death penalty will inevitably be morally arbitrary in some cases – either due to the morally arbitrary nature of the laws themselves, the enforcement of the law, or the imperfect determination of guilt. Since this is unavoidable, we cannot have the death penalty without murdering innocents. And since saving innocent life is far more important than ending the lives of the guilty, this should dissuade us from maintaining a death-penalty system. Finally, the virtuous qualities of revenge are absent in the death penalty system.
Linktree https://linktr.ee/emersongreen
Support at patreon.com/waldenpod & patreon.com/counter
Transcript emersongreenblog.wordpress.com/2022/12/07/why-i-support-abolition-of-the-death-penalty
Music by ichika Nito and used with permission.
Twitter @waldenpod
/ Timestamps /
00:00 Introduction
01:02 Defending the State
03:02 Moral Arbitrariness
06:00 The Principle of Remedy
08:15 What if we're certain?
10:46 Saving the Innocent vs. Killing the Guilty
15:28 Revenge
29:32 Final Considerations
