Executive summary: The author’s compassion for animals and rejection of speciesism led them to reassess their views on capital punishment, ultimately opposing it in principle to maintain moral consistency across human and nonhuman considerations.
Key points:
The author initially supported capital punishment based on cultural norms, karmic values, and its perceived deterrence effect, without deeply questioning their assumptions.
Exposure to the scale of nonhuman animal suffering in animal agriculture and subsequent adoption of a vegan lifestyle prompted the author to address underlying issues like speciesism, fostering a broader understanding of suffering and morality.
Effective Altruism shifted the author’s focus from blaming individuals to addressing systemic issues, creating space for greater empathy and moral reasoning.
The author now extends equal moral weight to humans and nonhumans, influencing their view on capital punishment to oppose it in principle for moral consistency.
Strong emotions like anger and vengeance, especially in response to heinous crimes, no longer dictate the author’s stance on capital punishment, as rationality now plays a greater role in their decision-making.
The post does not consider utilitarian arguments or the comparative effectiveness of capital punishment versus life imprisonment, focusing instead on the assumption that capital punishment causes more suffering.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, and contact us if you have feedback.
Executive summary: The author’s compassion for animals and rejection of speciesism led them to reassess their views on capital punishment, ultimately opposing it in principle to maintain moral consistency across human and nonhuman considerations.
Key points:
The author initially supported capital punishment based on cultural norms, karmic values, and its perceived deterrence effect, without deeply questioning their assumptions.
Exposure to the scale of nonhuman animal suffering in animal agriculture and subsequent adoption of a vegan lifestyle prompted the author to address underlying issues like speciesism, fostering a broader understanding of suffering and morality.
Effective Altruism shifted the author’s focus from blaming individuals to addressing systemic issues, creating space for greater empathy and moral reasoning.
The author now extends equal moral weight to humans and nonhumans, influencing their view on capital punishment to oppose it in principle for moral consistency.
Strong emotions like anger and vengeance, especially in response to heinous crimes, no longer dictate the author’s stance on capital punishment, as rationality now plays a greater role in their decision-making.
The post does not consider utilitarian arguments or the comparative effectiveness of capital punishment versus life imprisonment, focusing instead on the assumption that capital punishment causes more suffering.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, and contact us if you have feedback.