zlacker

>>YeGobl+(OP)
I’m always confused why conservatives tend to support the death penalty. The conservative ethos is to reduce the power of the state to prevent abuse, but giving the state the right to kill a citizen clearly goes against that. How can you mistrust the state in almost every aspect of society, yet trust it to only kill people that “deserve” it?

>>dimal+zl
I think most people would be in favor of more protections. But even Socrates argued for the death penalty. Upholding the norm of proportionality in Western philosophy isn’t generally seen as abuse.

>>peyton+Xm
> But even Socrates argued for the death penalty.

This is a gross misunderstanding. Socrates was sentenced to death for "corrupting the youth" in a sham trial. Some friends of Socrates offered to smuggle him out of Athens and escape his death sentence, but Socrates argued against that, for various reasons.

There's no evidence that Socrates supported and promoted the death penalty in the abstract.

>>lapcat+zo
This. And even if Socrates wrote an eloquent argument for the death penalty, he would be the first to reject the use of his name as an argument unto itself.