Albert Camus’s Philosophical Reflection on the Rejection of the Death Penalty

Inflicting pain and suffering on the human and imposition of punishment and special forms of it called execution has always been a philosophical topic in various fields; is imposing the most extreme pain and suffering on another-in the form of the death penalty-moral and justified? The answer to this question has been expressed by relying on the functions of this punishment and moral correctness of its nature has been given less attention. Albert Camus is one of the writer and philosophers who are discussed in this issue. From his point of view, the execution is murder under the name of the law and cannot have a justified legal basis. In particular, such punishment, as evidenced in history, has been unable to fulfill its functions, and the inappropriateness of the death penalty is due to its incompatibility with the philosophical and moral foundations of life, the lack of examination of the parameters involved in committing a crime, the conflict with the principle of the personal nature of punishment, and the immorality of the objection of pain. Intentional infliction of pain resulting from execution shows is a reorganization of “killing” and its depenalization of it, is a step towards protecting human life.