Capital Punishment And Its Effect On Society - 2096 Words

Throughout history, capital punishment has been practiced in many areas in regards to major crimes. Capital punishment is the execution of a convicted criminal as a punishment for the committed crimes, with methods of execution that include electrocutions, gas chambers, lethal injections, etc. Capital punishment has more recently been taken into moral standards, resulting in more than half of the United Nations’ members abolishing its use. (http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/) However, the death penalty remains legal in 32 states in America to this very day. The Utilitarian ideology supports capital punishment, arguing that it decreases crime and is best for the whole of society. In contrast to Utilitarianism, many people oppose the death†¦show more content†¦2. pg. 9-10). This is a consequentialist theory that focuses on the ends rather than the means, in which actions must be observed in order to decide the action’s morality. The most important matter is the amo unt of happiness or unhappiness that is created as a consequence of an action. When determining the amount of happiness, Mill says that everybody must account for one, meaning that everyone’s happiness value is equivalent. In regards to punishment, Utilitarianism defines this as taking someone’s life or their freedom by ways of capital punishment or imprisonment. Good consequences, such as protection and safety, are to be maximized for society. Mill was a proponent of capital punishment because he believed it offered multiple benefits to society. In his speech â€Å"Speech in Favor of Capital Punishment,† Mill stated, â€Å"we endeavor to devise some punishment for the living criminal which shall act on the human mind with a deterrent force at all comparable to that of death, we are driven to inflictions less severe indeed in appearance, and therefore less efficacious, but far more cruel in reality.† According to Mill, the primary benefits of capital pun ishment are incapacitation and deference. Comfort and gratification were also secondary benefits of capital punishment. The