Question 1

According to van den Haag, which of the following reasons in favor of capital punishment is the most decisive?

Accepted Answer

Van den Haag argues that the most decisive reason in favor of capital punishment is that it serves as a just and appropriate retribution for the crime of murder, emphasizing the moral aspect of punishment rather than its utilitarian functions.

Question 2

Which of the following is demanded by a proper system of justice, according to van den Haag?

Accepted Answer

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Question 3

Which of the following best summarizes van den Haag's main conclusion about deterrence and the death penalty?

Accepted Answer

Van den Haag argues that while the death penalty likely serves as a deterrent to crime, its capacity to deter is not the fundamental reason it is morally permissible. Instead, he emphasizes retributive justice or the idea that the death penalty is morally justified as a proportionate response to certain severe crimes, irrespective of its deterrent effect.

Question 4

Which of the following best captures van den Haag's response to the objection that the death penalty should be abandoned because it is prohibitively expensive?

Accepted Answer

Van den Haag argues that the primary concern with the death penalty is the achievement of justice, and that concerns over its cost should not override the moral imperative to administer justice for the most heinous crimes.

Question 5

Which of the following best captures van den Haag's objection to the argument that execution ultimately endorses or legitimizes murder?

Accepted Answer

Van den Haag argues that execution is a lawful and deserved punishment for a crime, distinguishing it from murder, which is unlawful and undeserved. This legal and moral distinction underpins his objection to the idea that execution legitimizes murder.

Question 6

Van den Haag argues that if capital punishment is a morally permissible practice, then no distribution of it, discriminatory or otherwise, could make it immoral.

Accepted Answer

Van den Haag's argument suggests that if the practice itself is morally permissible, then the way it is distributed does not affect its moral standing.

Question 7

According to van den Haag, a punishment can be considered unjust to one individual if other individuals deserving of the punishment have escaped it.

Accepted Answer

The answer of According to van den Haag, a punishment...

Question 8

According to van den Haag, the conclusion that the death penalty is morally permissible would not be undermined by granting the premise that the innocent are sometimes executed.

Accepted Answer

Van den Haag argues that the potential execution of innocent people does not undermine the moral permissibility of the death penalty because its benefits, such as deterrence and retribution, outweigh the negative aspects of such mistakes.

Question 9

According to van den Haag, the principal reason that the death penalty is morally justified is that it deters others from committing capital crimes.

Accepted Answer

Van den Haag argues that the death penalty is morally justified primarily because it serves as a form of retribution, not primarily for its deterrent effect.

Question 10

Van den Haag argues that the ultimate point of punishment is to offset or compensate for the victim's suffering.

Accepted Answer

Van den Haag primarily argues that the purpose of punishment is deterrence and retribution, rather than compensating the victim's suffering.

Question 11

According to van den Haag, the death penalty cannot be unjust to a criminal because the criminal, in committing his or her crime, has voluntarily assumed the risk of this punishment.

Accepted Answer

Ernest van den Haag, a proponent of the death penalty, argued that it is not unjust to criminals because by committing crimes, they have voluntarily exposed themselves to the risk of receiving this form of punishment, thereby accepting its potential application to their actions.

Question 12

van den Haag argues that the cost of executing criminals is largely irrelevant to the morality of capital punishment.

Accepted Answer

Van den Haag believes that the morality of capital punishment should be determined by its justice and deterrent effects, rather than its cost. He argues that if capital punishment is morally justified, its cost is secondary to its effectiveness in achieving justice and deterring crime.

Question 13

According to van den Haag, the main reason that the death penalty is justified is that the severity and finality of the death penalty are appropriately proportionate to the severity and finality of murder.

Accepted Answer

Ernest van den Haag argued that the death penalty is justified on the grounds of retribution, asserting that the severity and finality of capital punishment are proportionate responses to the severity and finality of the crime of murder.

Question 14

According to van den Haag, the death penalty has been conclusively demonstrated to have a deterrent effect on crime.

Accepted Answer

Ernest van den Haag argued in favor of the death penalty but acknowledged that its deterrent effect had not been conclusively demonstrated, emphasizing moral and philosophical grounds over empirical evidence.

Question 15

Van den Haag acknowledges that there is significant direct racial discrimination in the sentencing of those arrested and convicted for murder.

Accepted Answer

Van den Haag argues that the disparities in sentencing, particularly the death penalty, are not due to racial discrimination but rather to differences in the circumstances of the crime, such as its severity and the defendant's criminal history.

Question 16

In your own words, state van den Haag's main conclusion in "The Ultimate Punishment: A Defense" and summarize his main argument for that conclusion.

Accepted Answer

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Question 17

Why, according to van den Haag, is the distribution of a punishment ultimately irrelevant to questions about the punishment's moral permissibility?

Accepted Answer

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Question 18

How might one object to van den Haag's argument that the unequal distribution of a punishment cannot render the punishment unjust? Be sure to state your objection as a complete argument.

Accepted Answer

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Question 19

In your own words, explain van den Haag's analogy between risky pursuits such as construction and capital punishment. What conclusion does he draw on the basis of this analogy?

Accepted Answer

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Question 20

Given his arguments in "An Eye for an Eye," how would Nathanson likely respond to van den Haag's contention that the "severity and finality of the death penalty is appropriate to the seriousness and the finality of murder"? Be sure to state this response as a complete argument.

Accepted Answer

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Quiz 13: Aristotle's Ethics: Exploring Virtue and Justice