Back >

Description of Classroom Activities   Lesson Plan Activity 1 Lesson Plan Activity 2 Lesson Plan Activity 3 The goal of this module is to attempt to get the students to understand that the moral justifiability of capital punishment is not simply a choice but should depend upon the force and evidence of the arguments on either side. In other words, the case for or against capital punishment is only as good as the arguments used to support those positions. ACTIVITY #1: The Retributivist Argument for Capital Punishment--Immanuel Kant 1.Begin by having students read a small excerpt from “On the Right to Punish” by Immanuel Kant. Kant, Immanuel. “On the Right to Punish” in The Metaphysics of Morals (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1991), pp. 140-144. 2.Have students identify Kant’s main point with respect to capital punishment. Is Kant for or against capital punishment? It is also important that they can find the conclusion in the article and can state it in their own words, not simply quoting the author. 3.Identification of Reasons or Evidence: Once students have recognized that Kant is arguing for capital punishment, ask them to identify the reasons that Kant offers to morally justify capital punishment. TEACHER PROMPT: At this point, explain why Kant’s argument should be considered a retributivist argument (see the definition of retributivism above). 4.Discuss Kant’s principle of equality and ask students what sort of equality is being proposed and why equality should matter to punishment. Also, equality seems to imply that capital punishment can only be used in cases of murder, since there is not equality in punishing someone for stealing, let us say, with capital punishment. Ask students to write in their own words why Kant thinks capital punishment is a good idea. Ask them to decide if they think Kant is right about this. Is it a good idea to put people to death if they are guilty of murdering someone? If they think it is, ask them to state why they think so. If they do not think it is, ask them to state why they do not think so. Ask the students to consider if there might be other reasons, besides retributivism, to justify capital punishment. Is retributivism the only possible way one might justify for capital punishment or are there other justifications? Finally, ask the students to discuss whether or not Kant’s argument fully values the idea of “respect”? Does Kant’s argument fully value the idea of “fairness”? ACTIVITY #2: Utilitarian arguments for Capital Punishment 1.Begin by asking your students whether or not they think that having capital punishment deters people from committing crimes. Some of them will most likely think that it does. They are not alone. In the presidential election of 2000, both Al Gore and George W. Bush were asked whether they believed that death penalty deterred crime. Both of them answered that it did. 2.Have your students read an excerpt from “The Collapse of the Case Against Capital Punishment” by Ernest Van Den Haag where, among other things, Van Den Haag argues that death penalty does prevent future lives from being lost due to crime. Van Den Haag, Ernest, “The Collapse of the Case Against Capital Punishment” in The Philosophy of Law (Oxford: Oxford UP 1996), pp. 735-737. 3. Ask your students to identify the conclusion or main point of the argument, and to point out where it can be found in the article. It is also important that they state the conclusion in their own words, not simply quoting the author. TEACHER PROMPT: Van den Haag argues that death penalty is justified if it could be shown that survival of between seven and eight innocent victims could be prevented by executing criminals. This is presumably because we must make a choice between the criminal life and the innocent lives and side with the latter. Van Den Haag seems to suggest that it is better to gamble with the lives of the criminal rather than with the lives of the innocent. 4.Ask the students if they think that gambling with the lives of criminals is also gambling with innocent lives since it is almost certain that some innocent people are put to death by execution. Have students write a short essay analyzing how Van Den Haag’s argument for capital punishment is different from Kant’s argument for capital punishment. Ask them to state the difference between utilitarian justifications for capital punishment and retributivists justification for capital punishment. Do they think Van Den Haag’s argument is more convincing than Kant’s? Why or why not? Does Van Den Haag’s argument value the idea of “respect” as stated in the Core Values of this module? Does Van Den Haag’s argument value the idea of “fairness” as stated in the Core Values? ACTIVITY #3: Classroom Debate-- Capital Punishment, Yes or No? TEACHER PROMPT: The idea here is to incorporate some of the learned content from the class sessions, as well as some of the analytical skills to construct clearly articulated arguments on both sides of the question. If capital punishment is supported, then students should not only offer clear and convincing reasons for their conclusion but also entertain possible objections to their argument. Encourage the students to research the issue in the library or online. An interesting aspect of the pro position is the upsurge in support for Capital Punishment in the United States: in 1966 a poll among Americans indicated a 41 % approval rate for the death penalty; in 1981 a 66.2 approval rate for the death penalty; in 2005 a 68% approval rate. Students can check the following web site for the details: http://www.galluppoll.com/content/default.aspx?ci=1606&VERSION=p Divide students into small, opposing groups of two. Have one group be for Capital Punishment and the other opposed to Capital Punishment. Give the groups time to research and prepare their arguments and to select speakers for their debate team. Conduct the classroom debate. 13. EXTENSION ACTIVITIES: 1.Writing Assignment It has been statistically established that African-Americans who kill European-Americans are much more likely to receive a death penalty than European-Americans who kill African-Americans. Is this statistic enough to argue for the abolishment of death penalty? Have your students write a three-to-four page argument which attempts to demonstrate that since we cannot administer the death penalty without discrimination, it should be abolished, or that such discrimination, while perhaps abominable, doesn’t argue for the rejection of the death penalty. If you have discussed this issue before in you classroom activities, then you can offer students some ideas as to how to accomplish this assignment. As always, make sure students clearly identify their reason for their conclusion, and take up some hypothetical objections. 2.Discussion/Debate Assignment Divide student into debate teams, large or small. The assignment is debate the following question: If capital punishment is morally justifiable, should it only be limited to crimes of murder or could it be justified for other sorts of crimes. Historically, capital punishment has been administered in response to espionage, adultery, theft, and many other things. Why should it be limited just to murder? Here one could discuss the recent bill introduced by Texas legislature indicated in the “case studies” but one can certainly open up the debate to include other possibilities as well.