> as long as were talking about less clear cut cases, id like to know how
the
> moq could be applied to executions of retarded people, like the one in
texas
> recently. they are no doubt violent criminals, but did they have the
mental
> faculties to comprehend what they did? im sure there are various degrees
of
> mental retardation, which makes it a very complex issue. any feedback on
> this would be appreciated.
> rasheed
>
Rasheed,
Looks fairly simple to me. Executing a violent criminal with full
responsibility for his actions is BAD. Therefore, executing someone who has
less responsibility is also BAD. I don't know about American law, but when
we still had the death penalty for murder in the UK, the doctrine of
"diminished responsibility" was created so that such people as you refer to
could escape the gallows. And it worked ok in most circumstances, (and still
does so that such killers might avoid a life sentence nowadays). I would
have thought that there would be a similar safeguard in the US. Or at least
should be. But, either way, executing is bad, and even more so here.
Unless (AND THIS IS NOT MY OPINION) it could be argued that such a violent
criminal, lacked the necessary to be part of the intellectual level, then
execution would just be society repressing biology, all perfectly moral by
the MOQ. As I say, I find such an argument morally repugnant, but the MOQ
can be used to support such repugnant views, and it's both a weakness of the
MOQ and also its reflection of the dynamic. When you really think about it,
it doesn't much help you in saying why Mandela's POV is of higher quality
than Hitler's was. Not much of an ethics system is it?
Sorry if some of that post was a bit legalistic, but I've got exams starting
monday morning, so I'm kind of in a law mindset at the minute.
S
ps. Platt, I will respond, I'm just a bit caught with exams for the next few
days.
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