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Capital Punishment
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Capital Punishment
Although I find flaws in each of the arguments posed from both sides of the issue, I believe van den Haag’s opinions meet the mark for this rebuttal as he attempts to touch on more of the sub-arguments. I find his sub-arguments offer clarity of his thought processes and the rational construction of his opinions. Van den Haag’s critical error in his philosophy was one easily avoided. Although I agree with some of his conclusions, the end does not justify his means. Van den Haag makes no real distinction between justice and morality as he comingles those issues as if they are reliant one upon the other. He would have us believe that if it is just it must be moral, and if it is moral it must be just. It is my opinion that morality and justice are separate issues. Morality is a solitary pursuit. The acquiring of one’s morality is influenced from so many directions and personal experiences that it is fully conceivable, that upon a clear and determined reflection, one may not be able to pinpoint precisely how they arrived at their current moral position. But that decision is internal, made by the individual. This being true, morality becomes a variable when combined with justice. Law is a culmination of the reasoning process of a social collective in response to the need for assurance of the health and welfare of the individuals which combine to create the collective. Justice is the fair and equal application of the l...
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