Making Rational Decisions-Death Penalty

Jean Paul Sartre was a French philosopher and he was considered to be an existentialist philosopher. An existentialist can be defined as a philosopher who emphasizes freedom of choice and personal responsibility, and that each individual is responsible for their actions and must accept its consequences.

The death penalty is a very popular dilemma and debate that has been going on for years now. Many ask themselves, “Does the state have the right to kill another person?” Well, according to me, Jean Paul Sartre, the death penalty should be applied in every country. As an existentialist philosopher I strongly believe that individuals are free to choose between right and wrong and therefore this makes them responsible for the consequences that come along with the decision they made. For example, if a man comes along and kills an innocent girl walking down the street because he wants to steal the girl’s cell phone, the state has the right to punish the man and killed him because he just killed an innocent girl with no purpose. The man decided to kill the girl, who was innocent, so now he must be punished and take responsibility for his actions.

In every community we can see how crime rates are increasing, and often times the state does not punish those who deserve to be punish due to a crime they had done. As an existentialist, I believe that the states has the right to punish and apply the death penalty to people only if they have evidence and they consider that the death penalty should be applied. People are born free and they have the right to make individual choices. Freedom of choice is everyone’s right, but when it comes to taking individual responsibility for those actions things change. If you have the freedom of making your own decisions, you must first think about the consequences that those actions will bring to you, and then make it a final decision. If you made the wrong decision, then you must accept and take responsibility.

Without a doubt I believe that the state is in total control of applying the death penalty to those who deserve to be punished. People must learn to make the correct decision and if not, you must also learn from your mistakes. For existentialists, God does not exist; therefore the state has the right to punish people because there is no supreme being. Killing is not a crime. Death penalty should be applied, and the state has the right to kill another person if they consider it a need because people are responsible for their actions.