The ethics of capital punishment : a philosophical investigation of evil and its consequences / Matthew H. Kramer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kramer, Matthew H., 1959- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Capital punishment--Moral and ethical aspects.

Capital punishment.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (733 p.)

Place of Publication:

Oxford, England : Oxford University Press, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Debate has long been waged over the morality of capital punishment, with standard arguments in its favour being marshalled against familiar arguments that oppose the practice. In The Ethics of Capital Punishment, Matthew Kramer takes a fresh look at the philosophical arguments on which the legitimacy of the death penalty stands or falls, and he develops a novel justification of that penalty for a limited range of cases.The book pursues both a project of critical debunking of the familiar rationales for capital punishment and a project of partial vindication. The critical part presents some acc

Contents:

Cover; Title Page; Copyright Page; Preface; Contents; 1. Introduction; 1.1 The limits of the enquiry; 1.2 A matter of justification; 1.2.1 A first caveat; 1.2.2 A second caveat; 1.3 A pithy conspectus; 1.3.1 Chapter 2: Deterrence-oriented theories; 1.3.2 Chapter 3: Retributivism; 1.3.3 Chapter 4: The incapacitative rationale; 1.3.4 Chapter 5: The denunciatory conception; 1.3.5 Chapter 6: The purgative rationale; 1.3.6 Chapter 7: Problems of administration; 2. Deterrence through Capital Punishment; 2.1 The deterrence-oriented rationale expounded; 2.2 Simplistic strictures

2.2.1 A misjudged recourse to Rawls2.2.1.1 Donnelly's first line of reasoning: the matter of slavery; 2.2.1.2 Donnelly's second line of reasoning: an untenable asymmetry; 2.2.1.3 Donnelly's third line of reasoning: public order; 2.2.1.4 Some further reflections; 2.2.2 Using people as means; 2.3 Empirical doubts; 2.3.1 The meagerness of the evidence; 2.3.2 General misgivings; 2.3.2.1 Prospects versus certainties; 2.3.2.2 Beyond deliberation; 2.3.2.3 Brutalization; 2.4 The moral untenability of the deterrence-oriented rationale; 2.4.1 The manner of use; 2.4.1.1 Blocking the analogy?

2.4.1.2 Help from an unexpected quarter?2.4.2 No limits; 2.4.2.1 The massacre of the innocents; 2.4.2.1.1 Ineffective dissimulation?; 2.4.2.1.2 A retributivistic side-constraint?; 2.4.2.1.3 Justifiable executions of innocents?; 2.4.2.2 Types of punishments; 2.4.2.2.1 Proportionality; 2.4.2.2.2 Utilitarianism; 2.4.2.2.3 Retributivism to the rescue?; 2.4.2.2.4 Sunstein and Vermeule on analogies; 2.5 A pithy conclusion; 3. Death and Retribution; 3.1 Some key themes; 3.1.1 Desert and moral responsibility; 3.1.2 Human equality; 3.1.3 Commensurateness, proportionality, and lex talionis

3.1.3.1 Commensurateness3.1.3.2 Proportionality; 3.1.3.3 Lex talionis; 3.1.4 Punishment as communication; 3.2 Versions of retributivism; 3.2.1 Desert-focused retributivism; 3.2.1.1 Freedom as the unjust gain?; 3.2.1.2 The price of a licence; 3.2.1.2.1 A first query; 3.2.1.2.2 A second query; 3.2.1.2.3 A third query; 3.2.1.2.4 A fourth query; 3.2.1.3 Self-indulgence; 3.2.1.3.1 A manifestly unsustainable version of the thesis; 3.2.1.3.2 A tenable version of the thesis; 3.2.1.3.3 Some qualifications; 3.2.2 Vindicatory retributivism; 3.2.2.1 Retribution is not revenge

3.2.2.2 The communicative dimension3.2.2.3 A first objection to the communicative dimension of vindicatory retributivism; 3.2.2.4 A second objection to the communicative dimension of vindicatory retributivism; 3.3 Does retributivism disallow capital punishment?; 3.3.1 Contrition precluded?; 3.3.1.1 A first rejoinder by Markel; 3.3.1.2 The time of the punishment; 3.3.1.3 Post-punitive opportunities for reform; 3.3.2 Human dignity revisited; 3.3.2.1 The exploitation of pain; 3.3.2.2 The death penalty and moral responsibility; 3.4 Can retributivism justify capital punishment?

3.4.1 The views of retributivists

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [329]-339) and index.

Description based on print version record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-19-964219-2

0-19-173218-4

0-19-102968-8

0-19-101849-X

OCLC:

1108538340