A Japanese argument

This is a rather quirky argument, and not normally put forward.

Japan uses the death penalty sparingly, executing 1. APPROXIMATION 3 prisoners per year.

A unique 2. JUSTIFY for keeping capital punishment has been put forward by some Japanese psychologists who argue that it has an important psychological part to play in the life of the Japanese, who live under severe stress and pressure in the workplace.

The argument goes that the death penalty 3.REINFORCEMENT the belief that bad things happen to those who deserve it.

This reinforces the 4. CONTRARIETY belief: that good things will happen to those who are ‘good’.

In this way, the 5. EXIST of capital punishment provides a psychological release from conformity and overwork by reinforcing the hope that there will be a reward in due time.

Oddly, this argument seems to be backed up by Japanese 6. PUBLICITY opinion.

Those who are in favour 7. CURRENT comprise 81% of the population, or that is the official statistic.

Nonetheless there are also a small but increasingly 8.VOCIFERATION abolitionist movement in Japan.

From an ethical point of view this is the totally consequentialist argument that if 9. EXECUTOIN a few people will lead to an aggregate increase in happiness then that is a good thing.

TASK 6