Consequentialism and the Death Penalty

American Journal of Bioethics 8 (10):56-58 (2008)
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Abstract

Comment on "The ethical 'elephant' in the death penalty 'room'". Arguments in defense of the death penalty typically fall into one of two groups. Consequentialist arguments point out beneficial aspects of capital punishment, normally focusing on deterrence, while non-consequentialist arguments seek to justify execution independently of its effects, for example, by appealing to the concept of retribution. Michael Keane's target article "The ethical 'elephant' in the death penalty 'room'" should, we believe, be read as an interesting new consequentialist defense of physician involvement in capital punishment.

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Author Profiles

Thomas Douglas
University of Oxford
Dominic Wilkinson
Oxford University

References found in this work

Principles of biomedical ethics.Tom L. Beauchamp - 1979 - New York: Oxford University Press. Edited by James F. Childress.
Normative Ethics.Shelly Kagan - 1998 - Westview Press.
Normative Ethics.Shelly Kagan - 1998 - Mind 109 (434):373-377.
Philosophical Medical Ethics.R. S. Downie & Ranaan Gillon - 1987 - Philosophical Quarterly 37 (149):461.

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