P1. Certain criminals deserve to die.P2. (suppressed premise) Given that some criminals deserve to die, we (Canada) ought to institutionalize a procedure by which certain convicted criminals are put to death (i.e. introduce/reinstate capital punishment).
C. Therefore, we (Canada) ought to reinstate capital punishment.
As always, there is more than one way of doing this. The important
thing is to note that this is an argument in which the central premise
concerns the desert (as opposed, say, to an argument from deterrance).
The suppressed premise is also important, as it does not directly from
the fact that certain people are deserving of death, that the death penalty
should be institutionalized.
One might think that the claim that "We need to send the message that
we will not tolerate such blatant disregard for human life" as a kind of
deterrence argument. It is true that this might suggest such an argument;
however, I think the best interpretation focuses on desert.
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