Moral and Social Problems – Ethics
Write a 5-7 page, double spaced and typed paper on one of the following topics. In your paper, you are asked to state and explain the theory in question or the author’s views on the subject. You are also asked to spend at least one of the pages explaining and defending your own position on the matter. Consult the guidelines in the textbook for how to write philosophy papers. Accuracy, clarity, and evidence of careful thinking, as well as the cogency of your position are the crucial features in these essays. Make sure to submit a word (doc, docx) or rtf document. Do not submit a pdf, pages, google docs, or other format paper. It takes time to convert a document to a format I can use to provide comments. Please do not add to the steps that are necessary for me to read your work and get comments back to you. Your attention to this is greatly appreciated.
Much controversy pivots around the question as to whether certain crimes should carry the sentence of capital punishment. The answer to such a question depends upon a person’s conceptions of justice and the nature of punishment. Explain why this is so and how notions like retribution, prevention and reform have a role to play. Using Lloyd Steffen’s article and one opposing article (several are posted on Blackboard) as a launching pad, discuss the various arguments in favor of capital punishment and the various arguments against it? How might a utilitarian, a neo-Kantian and a neo-Aristotelian argue and why? What position do you find the most convincing and why?