Is Capital Punishment Legalised Murder?

I know the justifactions saying that it is merely an "eye for an eye", but at the end of the day is it really just simple murder?

You can justify it anyway you can (I've always been under the impression that if you need to continually justify an action you're probably having some doubt about it.)

What do the lot of you think?

No I don't think it is.I mean the person that you are killing has killed someone else so I think they deserve it.

Unfortunately, we (society) decides what is murder and what is not.
We have decided that killing in war is not murder.
We have decided that execution in not murder.
We have decided that killing to protect your life is not murder.

As far the bigger picture is concerned; we are just animals on this planet. Death is natural. The problem with Capital Punishment is the fact that it diminishes our (the people who have to live after the person is executed) value of life. What do we want. I personally would like to have a world were we do not execute people.

Originally posted by Shakyamunison
Unfortunately, we (society) decides what is murder and what is not.
We have decided that killing in war is not murder.
We have decided that execution in not murder.
We have decided that killing to protect your life is not murder.

who is we?

Originally posted by inimalist
who is we?

The big we.

do you mean the government?

because at least 50% of thread participants at this point aren't part of that "we"

I don't think it's murder when it has been declared as an aforementioned consequence to a particular action equal to playing in live wires has been explained to us all. You could call capitol punishment suicide/murder. It can be murder for sure in some situations though.

Originally posted by inimalist
do you mean the government?

because at least 50% of thread participants at this point aren't part of that "we"

Bigger. Humans over time.

Originally posted by Shakyamunison
Bigger. Humans over time.

thats not quite true, attitudes toward capital punishment have varried hugely over time

Originally posted by inimalist
thats not quite true, attitudes toward capital punishment have varried hugely over time

Are you saying that what we have now is not connected to the past? That is just silly.

By definition murder is illegal, legalized murder is an oxymoron

Originally posted by Bardock42
By definition murder is illegal, legalized murder is an oxymoron

Thats the purpose I was trying to make.
That it's a double standard in society.

Shakya's first post made sense to me.

Originally posted by Liberator
Thats the purpose I was trying to make.
That it's a double standard in society.

No it's not, it's how language works.

Boy are not girls.
Lightbulbs are not stars.
Cows are not sheep.

Capital punishment is legalized killing, sure, but that's not a very controversial claim. Perhaps you mean to ask "is capital punishment bad?".

What Sym said is correct. You would like the impact of the word murder to apply to capital punishment because you disagree with it. I disagree with it, too, but for purposes of being linguistically clear it is not the same as murder. Rhetorically you can equate them if you like...people do it all the time with rape, though I find that distasteful (the rape thing, not the murder).

I'm pretty sure the actual definition of murder is "unlawful killing", so if it's lawful it can't be murder. It is definitely state sponsored killing though.

There is a semantic case for using murder with a definition outside of that of the legal process in the country such a killing occurs. Numerous times have killings that were literally legal in the state they were committed been generally characterised as murder, and effectively this was correct.

As a result, capital punishment would not be considered murder by the state carrying it out. This does not necessarily rule out it being defined as murder by others, and there is no technical reason to rule that view out.

Death is the punishment for many actions why not some crimes? Not all crimes but ones that prove that a person will kill again. Not executing someone that you know will kill again is murder when they kill again isn't it? I don't believe in an eye for an eye I believe that a punishment should fit a crime fairly. Fearing death keeps people from doing certain things like sticking forks in the socket. I'm sure it can deter some people from "dabbling" in certain crimes. If you were trying to put a hit out on someone I'm sure them being a cop would affect the price thus decreasing a cops risk of this danger somewhat.

Originally posted by Ushgarak
There is a semantic case for using murder with a definition outside of that of the legal process in the country such a killing occurs. Numerous times have killings that were literally legal in the state they were committed been generally characterised as murder, and effectively this was correct.

Because the observer/historian rejects the legal system that carried out the executions. But so long as one thinks there is any case where execution can be justified then there is a difference between capital punishment and murder. If not then it seems like the argument becomes wholly semantic.

Well, then assume that Liberator is referring to a situation where someone thinking capital punishment it is murder automatically rejects the part of the legal system that allows it.

You can then answer his question without disallowing it on semantic grounds.

Originally posted by Ushgarak
Well, then assume that Liberator is referring to a situation where someone thinking capital punishment it is murder automatically rejects the part of the legal system that allows it.

You can then answer his question without disallowing it on semantic grounds.

So the question becomes "should capital punishment be legal?".

And, well, I don't know. Certainly I believe there are circumstances where killing a person is a justifiable act. On the other hand having an institution that is allowed to kill people opens doorways to serious abuse and when used cannot be overturned.

But if we take the question from the opening post rather than the title: "end of the day is it really just simple murder?"

The answer is clearly no, even without semantics. The processes used to decide if people will be executed are clear and deliberately lengthy.