Situation Ethics, Virtue Ethics and Capital punishment

Capital punishment is more acceptable if it maximises luck. It is up to the individual to decide what love demands in the situation.

To determine whether it does so, agape calculations of the situation are required

How might a situation ethecists argue that capital punishment is in most situations, wrong?

• stop someone’s life, not most loving

• Devalues human life

• Stops possibility of reform

• Brutalises society

Situation ethics questions

• Death better than living in prison for life?

• Justice for victims family?

• It is the loving thing to remove them from the community?

Virtue ethics viewpoint

• could be the compassionate thing to do

• Could lead to the vice of revenge or ignorance (to other peoples situations)

• Crime demonstrates lack of practical wisdom. Justice restores the lack of balance, corrects the vices

• Brutalises society → virtuous person doesn’t want that