Answer questions

Order Description Answer the questions seperate from the week readings 2. Do you agree with some theorists (eg Bedau) that a strict application of lex talionis is not only not ever practiced, but also not desirable? Explain the point being made, and your response to it. 3. What do you think is the strongest basis for a retributive defense of capital punishment? Do you agree with it, and with the claim that just punishment is ineliminably retributive? 4. Do you think the death penalty serves effectively as a deterrent for crimes of murder? 5. Do you agree with critics of the death penalty that its sanctioned use in a society degrades all members of that society? Present that argument in full. Critically assess it. 6. In regards to the very worst crimes and criminals, can we justify use of the death penalty as opposed to life imprisonment? On what grounds? * Readings? * Jeremy Bentham: ‘A Utilitarian Theory of Punishment’ * Hugo Adam Bedau: ‘Capital Punishment’ iS * Igor Primoratz: ‘A Life for a Life’ ?