What Is The Death Penalty Morally Wrong?

1Assessment Task 2: Case Study

The death penalty is still in force in many of countries around the world and in today 's modern society, it has become a highly controversial and debatable topic. Many either stand on the grounds that the death penalty is morally wrong and there are other means of achieving justice, or the opposing argument. These arguments arise from the notion of human dignity. Human dignity is a major factor as execution by the state contradicts the universally recognised fundamental rights as outlined by the United Nations. In relation to this issue, it is vital to examine justice and punishment, as well as the use of force to achieve these, and its compatibility with human dignity. There is a need to take into account
Metz argues that it is degrading to execute human beings period because it erases our entitlement to freedom of speech, right to a fair trial, choice of employment and other liberties. In conjunction, for those that believe in God, it is degrading because their life has a spiritual value bestowed by a higher power. Metz also speaks about how humans have the capacity to form harmonious relationships with one another and how execution by the state should exclude cases of self-defence. Metz 's concept of human dignity definitely reflects the approach of quadrant 1A (ACU, 2013a) which explains, humans have intrinsic worth simply because they are a member of the human species and from a religious point of
This is because for every situation, it can be thought of in four different ways. In this case, 1A describes the dignity that humans already have simply because we are human, is not considered because a murderer 's life has value just as anybody else 's life does. By putting he or she to death, it is the same concept as the murderer taking the life of the victim. In quadrant 1B, dignity that humans already have because they are special, including the capacity to reason and freedom. However those possessions are removed from the murderer, in particular, freedom. As for quadrant 2A, dignity is what humans gain or lose through a sense of self-worth, the murderer is likely to have no sense of self-worth as they face the death penalty. Human dignity and the human person is multidimensional, that is, in one way or another, will involve different perspectives in every scenario of a very complex nature. By thinking in only one perspective, we only have one understanding of human dignity and not being able to understand the full potential of being human. Therefore it is important to consider scenarios from the stance of different