HU245M3 Social Ethics

This competency assessment assesses the following Outcome:

HU245-3: Analyze the effects of ethical decision making on human behavior.

Death Penalty Position Paragraph
Your task is to write a paragraph (maximum length of one page double spaced) that argues your
position on the death penalty. In your argument, you must draw upon ethical theories, concepts,
and reasoning to support your position.

 State whether or not the death penalty should be abolished and why.
 You must apply at least one ethical theory to support your position.
 You must explain what effects implementing your position regarding the death penalty would
have on society.

The paragraph should be one full page, double spaced, and free of grammatical errors.
It is not enough to name a theory; you must explain the theory and demonstrate how your
position reflects the logic and reasoning of that theory.
Remember that theory is the “why” behind your beliefs.

Death Penalty Position Paragraph

The death penalty has long been a source of heated discussion, and that debate rages on

today. Most individuals disagree on whether it is moral to take another person's life for whatever

cause. In a circumstance where one person is punished for the crime of executing another, the

situation's morality becomes a self-reinforcing loop. As a society, we should question why we

want them killed when the act of murder is so morally repugnant that the victim should be

punished. In other words, ethics is a question of individual taste. A person's point of view and the

circumstances in which they find themselves determine what constitutes "ethical" behaviour and

what does not.

That's why I think the practical ethical theory best conveys my thoughts and beliefs on

the death penalty, and it's also the most correct. If anything is determined to be ethical by
Thiroux and Krasmann, the utilitarian theory of ethics, they argue, means that it is in everyone's

best interest if it does so. Regardless of whether a killer is released from jail or is still in custody,

they have the power to kill or gravely injure anyone. Such deaths have a significant impact on

the majority of society. For this reason alone, I believe that the death penalty should be

implemented as soon as determined that a person poses a danger to society. This will not only

significantly reduce suffering and sorrow, but it will also save lives.

I need to bring out that the death sentence may be permissible in the practice of various

ethical theories, including those that oppose it, even though I believe in a practical ethical theory.

According to the corrective view of ethics, punishment should only be inflicted in the direst of

circumstances, as Thiroux and Krasmann argued.

In my perspective, the death penalty should be an option for the most severe offenders.

Those who commit the most heinous crimes should have the option of the death sentence

at their disposal. There will always be people who pose a significant risk to the safety of other

members of society because of their presence. To make society and prisons a safer environment,

I believe the death penalty should be implemented.