Aristotle and Capital Punishment

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer discusses capital punishment, which is a controversial issue in today's society. The writer notes that it is questionable whether man is justified morally to take another man's life, particular when it comes to an official or sanctioned killing. The writer discusses that Aristotle created a notion that came to be known as teleology that can help to understand the ethical issue. The writer explains that within this notion, Aristotle offers four causes that can help to explain the 'why' aspect of any why-related questions.
The writer concludes that Aristotle's logic is genius and powerful and shows things for what they really are. Further, the writer maintains that the death penalty is unethical because it assumes things to be true that are not necessarily true.

From the Paper:

"Teleology means the end of the process, and in consider capital punishment as an ethical issue the end of the process must be considered first. The end to capital punishment is to put to death the person guilty of the crime. However, this is not necessarily the end, or reason for capital punishment. Capital punishment is intended to punish a person by taking his or her life. But there can be a second interpretation of the ethical issue of capital punishment and that is that the end of capital punishment is the prevention of a crime in the first place. Thus according to teleology, capital punishment could be considered to have two different ends. As an ethical issue, capital punishment is a much deeper issue than simply molding a bronze statue, which is the end to the Aristotelian example. Much can be left up to interpretation, and therefore a deeper look at the two possibilities for capital punishment viewed from the Aristotelian viewpoint on causality and teleology. If the end product is necessary to explain the event, then there are two ways to explain capital punishment. Capital punishment is capital and thus death is the final result. But also, punishment implies punishment for doing something wrong and thus the punishment is intended to prevent something from being done wrong in the first place, and that is a second possible end."

Sample of Sources Used:

• "Aristotle (384-322 BCE): General Introduction." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2006. 20 Apr. 2007 <http://www.iep.utm.edu/a/aristotl.htm>.
• Falcon, Andrea. "Aristotle on Causality." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 11 Jan. 2006. 20 Apr. 2007 <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-causality/>.
• Hooker, Richard. "Teleology." World Civilizations. 14 July 1999. 20 Apr. 2007 <http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/GLOSSARY/TELE.HTM>.
• Johnson, Monte R. "Aristotle on Teleology." 20 Apr. 2007 <http://montejohnson.googlepages.com/aristotleonteleology>.
• Miller, Fred. "Presuppositions of Aristotle's Politics." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2002. 20 Apr. 2007 <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-politics/supplement2.html>.

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