Anti-Death Penalty Talk at Marian University

One of the things I love about my job is that I get to hang out with really cool people. This past Wednesday night (January 13) Marian University hosted Juan Melendez in a talk on the death penalty. Mr. Melendez was sentenced to death in Florida for a murder he did not commit and served time on death row for 17 years, 8 months, and 1 day. He was released when evidence emerged (16 years after he enter death row) exonerating him for the murder that was pinned on him. Mr. Melendez's impassioned talk caught the immediate attention of the students attending the event.

The death penalty is truly an ethical issue for our times. The recent revelations that innocent people are serving time on death row have caused many government officials to pause and rethink the justice of the death penalty. Former Illinois Governor George Ryan imposed a moratorium on the death penalty in Illinois in 200; it remains in place to this day. The Catholic Church has come out against the death penalty because it violates the ethic of life that the church embraces. There are still many people who struggle to give up their support of the death penalty. As more and more data reveal the inefficacy of this practice as a deterrent to murder, the cost of implementing this policy, and the inequity in its application, we can hope that more people will begin to change their minds on this issue. In a question and answer session, Mr. Melendez and his lawyer, Judi Caruso, noted that the death penalty does not secure our safety because murder rates are higher in states with the death penealty that those without it. Furthermore, the death penalty is disproportionately given to the poor and minorities.

What I found most remarkable in Mr. Melendez's presentation was the humanity he brought to his fellow inmates - the guilty as well as the innocent. He clearly felt affection for many of those who were in prison with him - after all, some of them took him under their wings and taught him to read, write, and speak English, as well as to let go of his anger and resentment at the injustice done to him. I suppose it is difficult for us to think of death row inmates as human - society portrays them as "monsters." But it is imperative that we understand that people on death row - even those who are guilty - are human beings and must be accorded basic human rights. We do an injustice by demonizing even those who have committed heinous crimes.

I had the privilege to host Mr. Melendez and Ms. Caruso in my home after the event. We were able to continue the conversation, but even more importantly, we had the opportunity to get to know one another. They are doing good work in traveling the country to educate young people (and us older folk) about the injustice of the death penalty. Furthermore, they are doing this out of their passion for the cause, not to get rich. Best of luck, Juan and Judi, on the good work you are doing. Thanks for visiting us at Marian University.

Ethics vs. Morality

I've often been asked what the difference is between ethics and morality. Many people use the terms interchangeably.

Technically, ethics is a subdiscipline of axiology (the study of value), which is a subdiscipline of philosophy (together with epistemology, the study of knowledge, and metaphysics, the study of reality or being). In light of this, I consider morality to be the understanding of right and wrong that is defined for us by parents, society, religion, etc. Often these moral values seem almost instinctual and are accompanied by strong emotion. Sometimes we don't even realize we have strong moral feelings until confronted with a scenrio that we react to emotionally. It is at this moment that ethics kicks in - at that moment when we stand back and ask ourselves why we have responded the way we have.


Why do we find, for example, incest or polygamy morally repugnant? Why is it wrong to have sexual relations with a close relative or to have multiple spouses? What are the values we bring to this nearly automatic response?


Ethics also come into play when we begin to question previously held moral values. Not long ago, there was a broad consensus that capital punishment for murderers was justified. Recently, this consensus has eroded, especially in light of findings that many on death row were innocent of the crimes of which they had been convicted. So now we find ourselves reflecting upon the ethics of capital punishment.

Much of the interest in ethics these days seems to be driven by a sense of many in society that basic moral decency has been eroded. The obvious example to point to is the erosion of morality in business that we have witnessed over many years. This erosion has resulted in the most severe recession since the Great Depression, so that ethics starts to seem less like an expensive luxury and more like an essential discipline to embrace. So in times when morality seems to be lax, ethics often kicks in as a way to reconsider and re-establish our moral principles.

Ethics, then, is a systematic reflection upon and inquiry into the moral values that we hold. Ethics is an important philosophical tool for providing rational support for our moral values. In education, an ethics course provides a valuable opportunity for students to reflect upon the moral principles they hold that seem so obviously right and to consider why (and whether) they are right.