GOVT186 CM - the Death Penalty Debate in Philosophy, Religion, Law, and Popular Culture

This course will examine key issues in the debate over the death penalty throughout Western history, with an emphasis on the current debate within the United States. Focusing on the crime of murder, readings will begin with the ancient legal codes of Hammurabi and Moses and extend up to the most recent court decisions and social science research in the United States. The course will cover the most important philosophic and religious arguments for and against the death penalty, as well as all the major critiques currently leveled against the practice of capital punishment in the United States. Readings will also cover the treatment of the death penalty in popular culture, including ancient Greek plays, the plays of Shakespeare, the debate among the Romantic poets of the 19th century, Clarence Darrow’s classic attack on the death penalty in the 1920s, and modern Hollywood treatments.

Prerequisite: GOVT 020 CM

Offered: Every other year

Credit: 1

Course Number: GOVT186 CM