I just came across a NPR report that Pope Francis rejects the death penalty on the ground that “it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person”, and is leading the Catholic Church to work for its abolition worldwide.[1]
Coincidentally, I recently appealed to “the dignity of the person” in a heated online exchange with a self-professed Christian, who treated me repeatedly with hostility and scorn. I asked, “Do I not deserve respect as a fellow human being, made in the image of God?”
If I’m not mistaken, these two incidents are a reflection of the time we live in: People have felt deeply the lack of dignity in their lives, and have sought, nay demanded, it from all the wrong places, in vain. It is a profound social and psychological problem that is beyond my ability to resolve. However, I’d like to look at “the dignity of the person” from a philosophical point of view, just to see how far reason can take us. I welcome any feedback on the subject.
According to Merriam-Webster and Oxford Dictionaries, dignity is “the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect”. I believe in the dignity of the person, but I don’t think the death penalty violates it. The death penalty deprives the person of life, but it doesn’t follow that it deprives him of honor and respect.
Firstly, death in and of itself doesn’t deprive a person of honor and respect. Otherwise, what do we make of those who sacrifice their own lives to save others, or those who commit suicide out of a sense of honor and dignity, or those who would rather die as free men than live as slaves?
Secondly, it is the dignity of a human being to be self-determinate and morally responsible. Dignity consists in treating oneself and being treated in accord with one’s worth, that is, with justice, that each may have what is his due, credit or blame, reward or punishment. A person who is not accountable cannot be respected either, for he is beyond any frame of reference. Therefore, the death penalty, the penalty imposed on a person who has committed a crime deserving of death, actually reinforces the dignity of the person, instead of violating it.
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Notes:
- 1^. Kennedy, Merrit. “Catholic Church Now Formally Opposes Death Penalty In All Cases.” NPR. August 02, 2018. Accessed August 04, 2018. https://www.npr.org/2018/08/02/634864608/catholic-church-now-formally-opposes-death-penalty-in-all-cases.
I think Kant may have made that argument. Even if the justice system worked so flawlessly that the death penalty was never erroneously meted out, I doubt Christ would have supported it. Sadly, however, we have well-documented proof that the justice system is not flawless and that the death penalty is often erroneously meted out. Given that, perhaps those whose dignity is violated by the death penalty are the ones who support it rather than the ones to whom it is meted out.
Welcome to my blog, Prof! 🙂
Your comment reminded me of Aristotle who wrote to the effect that the only way not to err is not to live. The justice system is not flawless, but isn’t that true for all things human? We all act with limited information and objective uncertainty, but it doesn’t diminish our dignity in being self-determinate and morally responsible. So I don’t see how one’s dignity can be violated by supporting the death penalty.
If the death penalty is compatible with the dignity of the person, as I argued, then it is compatible with the Christian principle of Charity, at least to some extent. What would be the counter arguments?