capital punishment

這篇議論文要求回答者表達的重點是: 死刑是否合乎道德的 (morally justified). 你可以先在引言中表明自己的立場, 然後在之後的幾段內容解釋原因, 最後總結.

留意: (1) 不可平鋪真述死刑的好處是甚麼, 然後說它的壞處又是甚麼, 你必須要有肯定的立場, 一面倒強調它是道德的, 或是不道德的; (2) 強調道德層面, 不是它是否有效的阻止罪案發生. (除非題目問你是否接受社會執行死刑 Do you agree that capital punishment is acceptable?)

以下假設你同意死刑是沒有違反道德的刑法, 你可這樣寫:

Introduction:

In the past, capital punishment was commonly used to punish people who committed a serious crime. However, more and more countries have abolished this penalty, as it seems cruelty to kill someone. I agree that killing is not fun, BUT I think that this punishment is morally justified to treat a person who has done something very wrong. My reasons are as follows:

Main points:

- FAIR (a life for a life)
e.g. if owe someone $100, should pay back, fair
if someone kills another, he owe someone's life, so fair to take away his life as "compensation"
公平 (一命賠一命)

- LIFE IMPRISONMENT may be more cruel
e.g. staying in prison whole life, no freedom, boring, might get beaten by others sometimes.... BUT being killed only takes a few minutes!
終生監禁或更殘忍

- kind to a few criminals may be CRUEL TO MAJORITY
e.g. if capital punishment can scare people away from committing serious crimes, that means most people can enjoy a safer living environment; wouldn't it be cruel to most of us then if we indirectly encourage bad people to hurt others?
對小數罪犯仁慈將對社會整體的人不仁

- Some people argue that this may cause innocent death (counter argument)?

Such an argument can't stand because: in MOST CASES, the people who are sentenced to capital punishement really deserve. All we should do is BE VERY CAREFUL when carrying out this penalty, NOT to abolish it just because of very few special cases.

如有人是冤枉的, 死刑執行後便不能挽回了? --- 不成立!重 點應是小心審訊和執行, 不是因小數個別事件而廢除整個制度!


For more details, you may read the following:


圖片參考：http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/%7Etonya/spring/cap/gifs/prog.gif
Deterrence Hard to kill a wrongly convicted criminal Incapacitation Lex Talionis (a life for a life) More humane than life imprisonment More economical than life sentence Maximum public safety Should be enforced in a more timely fashion

圖片參考：http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/%7Etonya/spring/cap/gifs/cong.gif
Chance for convicted to "pay-back" society Cruel and unusual punishment (violation of the 8th amendment) Doesn't deter crime Less expensive than execution Moral argument Violates human dignity/rights Possibility of innocent death

Capital punishment (死刑)—
在大部份國家或大城市都已廢除，在香港，仍有說：依法判處死刑。但通常都不會執行。
因為人道原因或以免出現冤屈事件而產生遺憾的事，但往往又會產生反效果，亦可能令犯案者減低阻嚇作用，這令法治的社會造成了很大的矛盾。
從以上的論點寫下去，很容易便可寫到200字的essay的。