Utilitarianism

[edit] Utilitarianism

Utilitarian arguments for the death penalty generally focus on its deterrence effect; that is, people commit fewer murders because they fear being punished with the death penalty (See #Deterrence, prevention, and economics section in this article). If more than one life is saved because of deterrence for every execution, all else equal the death penalty is justified. Utilitarians need not agree with the death penalty, however; they may argue that the evidence does not support the existence of a deterrent effect, or that there is another negative effect which balances out the deterrent effect of course. For example, the brutalizing effect (see #Brutalizing effect on this page) might make people in general less respectful of life or cause life in the society less pleasant. This is a negative effect which might outweigh any deterrent effect in a utilitarian calculation, especially if the latter is relatively small.

Many argue that there are advantages of looking at capital punishment from a utilitarian perspective, that is, one which looks at costs and benefits for human