Death as a Means of Denunciation

Abstract

This chapter investigates the denunciatory rationale for the death penalty. Though that rationale can initially seem pugnacious or unsavory as it draws upon primal emotions of hatred and revenge in its justification of the institution of capital punishment, it in fact presents some powerful moral considerations in favor of that institution. Nonetheless, it too fails to vindicate the use of such punishment, as it contravenes the Minimal Invasion Principle and some other tenets of liberal democracy.