The totality of beliefs and sentiments common to the average members of a society forms a determinate system with a life of its own. It can be termed the collective or creative consciousness.
Emile DurkheimRead
Judicial execution can never cancel or remove the atrocity it seeks to punish; it can only add a second atrocity to the original one ... So long as one sees killing as wrong there is no need to waste time with the deterrent argument, since it would be nonsense to try to prevent a theoretical evil in the future by perpetrating an actual one in the present.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Judicial execution cannot rectify a wrongdoing; it only perpetuates further violence.
Auberon Waugh's quote emphasizes the futility of capital punishment by arguing that inflicting death as a form of justice does not erase the initial crime but instead creates a new moral atrocity. He critiques the idea that execution can serve as a deterrent, asserting that one cannot justify future potential wrongs by committing actual wrongs in the present.
Themes
JusticeAtrocityCapital PunishmentDeterrenceViolence
In practice
Example use cases
During a debate on criminal justice reform, one might use this quote to argue against the death penalty.
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