Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Random Thoughts on Ethics: Murder

New series here. Many subsequent posts to follow. Nothing gets people's blood boiling like hypothetical debates about ethics...

Why punish attempted murder less than murder? The one who attempted to murder is guilty of the same intent as one who completed the deed but should they be punished less severely for sheer incompetence?

4 comments:

Jude said...

On the flip side, would you reward someone merely for good intentions, regardless of what good they actually did?

Jude said...

Oh I also added-insert comment about Obama's Nobel peace prize here-

Scott said...

Totally agree TJ, sentencing should not be dictated by a victim's toughness or the quality of medical care received. If you fire a gun at someone, you mean to kill them, irregardless of your aim.

T.J. Shelby said...

Good point Jude. Although I thought you of all people would appreciate Obama's slight step away from Israel and towards Palestine. Emphasis on "slight."

Scott, agreed. It does seem odd, just because paramedics arrived at one place faster than another, it should not create a distinction between a 10-15 year sentence or life in prison/death penalty.

Death penalty is where I tend to separate ideologies from most liberals.