Applied Ethics Capital Punishment Discussion

Applied Ethics Capital Punishment Discussion
Applied Ethics Capital Punishment Discussion
1. The main motivation for the death penalty is to .
(A) let justice be done on the worst crimes
(B) give equal retribution for murderers
(C) set an example for other criminals
(D) decrease the overall crime rate
(E) placate crime victims
2. Which of the following is NOT used as a basis for arguing against
capital punishment?
(A) Retributive justice does not require the death penalty.
(B) Criminals deserve a fair hearing in court.
(C) Equal justice cannot be used as the general basis for
punishments.
(D) The death penalty may not work as a deterrent to crime.
(E) The death penalty would not be justified even if it were
a deterrent to crime.
3. Which of the following ideas is NOT included in the justice-driven
motivation for capital punishment?
(A) There must be a deterrent to violent crime.
(B) The punishment ought to fit the crime.
(C) The crime of murder violates the ultimate value.
(D) Serious crime must be recognized as such by the law.
(E) It is the responsibility of the law to give the severest punishments
when necessary.
36 ❯ McGraw-Hill’s 500 Philosophy Questions
4. The hypocrisy objection to capital punishment is based on a perceived
inconsistency in .
(A) exercising the death penalty when we are not morally perfect
ourselves
(B) giving equal retribution for murderers but not for other criminals
(C) treating criminals as though they had no rights
(D) exercising the death penalty to punish those who kill
(E) assigning the death penalty to suspects who may be innocent
Applied Ethics Capital Punishment Discussion
5. One flaw in the hypocrisy objection to capital punishment is that
(A) it does not give enough attention to the moral seriousness of murder
(B) it would make it hypocritical to enforce other kinds of punishments
too
(C) the death penalty might be assessed for other reasons besides
retribution
(D) it does not take into account the possibility of proportional justice
(E) it would let many criminals go free
6. The main problem with the objection that capital punishment may
execute the innocent is that .
(A) there is no way to have a perfect system of justice
(B) there is no way to tell whether a suspect is really innocent
(C) the objection does not tell us whether it is right to execute the guilty
(D) it neglects the possibility that the justice system could be improved
(E) no one wants to execute the innocent anyway
7. Which of the following is NOT a problem for the deterrence justification
for capital punishment?
(A) It is questionable whether capital punishment actually deters crime.
(B) It is impossible to tell whether capital punishment actually deters
crime.
(C) It does not represent the primary motivation for capital punishment
that most people would give.
(D) It commits us to a principle of justice by equal retribution that
cannot be generally applied.
(E) It commits us to a principle of consequentialism that we may
not subscribe to in general.
Applied Ethics ❮ 37
8. The justice-driven justification for capital punishment says that the death
penalty is needed .
(A) for extracting information
(B) to redress wrongs
(C) to lower the crime rate
(D) because proportional justice demands it
(E) to serve as an example to other criminals
9. Which of the following could NOT be motivated by retributive justice?
(A) Criminals being given punishments equal to their crimes
(B) Criminals being given punishments proportional to their crimes
(C) Criminals being punished to make them better people
(D) Criminals being punished in accordance with the law
(E) Criminals being punished for the immorality of their crimes
10. The defense of the death penalty that claims it is a deterrent to crime
is an invocation of .
(A) virtue ethics
(B) consequentialism
(C) duty-based ethics
(D) divine command theory
(E) a principle of equal justice
Having a hard time figuring out how to do your assignment?
Ask our experts for help and get it done in no time!