Indiana set to execute David Woods

I learned today that next Friday the State of Indiana will execute David Woods. The Clemency Board just denied his plea. Barring the intevention of Governor Daniels or the U.S. Supreme Court, the state will kill him at midnight as next Thursday turns into Friday.

I plan to raise as much opposition to this as I can. I will lead an HCC caravan this Thursday night to the prayer vigil outside the prison, if this goes forward. People also can join by learning about his case and signing a petition at the Blog of "ND Against State Killing."
As a Catholic, I oppose all execution, but I also have visited for the last 8 years a man on Indiana's death row, have come to know him as a friend. And so I oppose with even more vigor state killing. No matter what someone has done, they are still someone's son, father, brother, friend. Violence never affects just one, as the victims' families can also attest.

Consider this letter yesterday to the Suth Bend Tribune:
May 4 execution first since bar association reported flaws
VOICE OF THE PEOPLE



The pending execution of Indiana death row inmate David Woods on May 4 is a milestone in the history of Indiana's death penalty.

Our nagging doubts and fears about the death penalty system being Indiana's "other lottery" have now been confirmed and thoroughly documented in a recent report by the American Bar Association. Out of this report rises an opportunity to show that Indiana will not stand by while a man is executed as a result of so flawed and suspect a system. Instead, we must show that Indiana stands for fairness and true justice by demanding a hold on executions until the ABA report's recommendations can be further examined and the death penalty system as a whole can be judged.

A moratorium is not only advisable, but is also overwhelmingly supported by 61 percent of Hoosiers as demonstrated in an ABA-commissioned poll. Once the ticking clock of impending executions is silenced, objective examination of this system will expose the inhumanity, inefficiency and injustice of capital punishment. I urge all who are concerned about ensuring the legitimacy of our justice system to petition their legislators and Gov. Mitch Daniels for a stay of Woods' execution and a moratorium on capital punishment.


Will McAuliffe
Co-director
Notre Dame Against State Killing
South Bend

That letters raises significant points. It is true that the family of the victim, Juan Placencia, has asked that clemency be denied and Woods be killed. The victim was the ex-husband of Woods' mother. He was the father of 11 and grandpa to 76 children. His daughter said this: "I have to pray that you deny clemency to David Leon Woods," said his daughter Catherine Placencia, 63, Garrett. "He is the one who did this to my father and our family."

It is clear that David Woods is a man who has not been hardened as a prisoner but has turned to the good, after a brutal childhood (he was abused and neglected) and, yes, his commission of a brutal murder. He admits to the murder and is remorseful.

Some will say he chose death by inflicting death when he was 19. But again, be wary of fuzzy philosophy. Primary moral responsibility for killing David Woods will rest with those who kill David Woods and those who issue the order to kill David Woods. We will look at this case on Monday, but as you all can see, the issues we discuss are not abstract. The state is planning to kill this man. That's real.

Preparing for Final, Part One

The 3 page final paper will ALSO be the basis for your persuasive speech that you give at the final. Again, the final 3 pager + speech can be on the topic of your choosing, but I will list some possibilities below just for extra ideas.

Note: if your final 3 pager and speech is on abortion, you can pick a different topic for your one pager due Monday.

So here are some topic possibilities:
HCC, ND and ROTC
Catholicism and the military oath
The Dilemma of the Public Square
Is there a natural law that is objectively knowable?
Being and American and Catholic
How can religious values be translate into secular values?
Is secularism a sort of religion?
What can philosophy say about the abortion debate?
Should abortion be legal
Are postmodern tools helpful or not in understanding issues?

Final: Phil 102

Apart from our recent discussions of various moral issues like war or abortion, here are some concepts from the first half of semester that you will need to know for short answer part of final:

-the meaning of Plato's allegory of the Cave
-Plato's view of the health of the soul (the 3 parts of the soul)
-the 4 pursuits of philosophy... the True, the Good, the Beautiful, the One
-the idea of the soul, the "I" which remains through all my physical changes
-the proofs for the existence of God
-subjectivism, conventionalism, objectivism
-Natural Law
-a priori vs. a posteriori
-Deontology
-Utilitarianism ("act" utilitarianism and "rule" utilitarianism)
-Virtue Ethics
-The Greek Virtues
-The Roman Virtues
-The Cardinal Virtues
-The Golden Mean
-Askesis
-Eudaimonia
-The Theological Virtues
-The 7 Deadly Vices (sins)
-The Sport Theory of Ethics
-The Garden Theory of Ethics
-The Tests of Virtue Ethics (Arete, Telos, Social and Fruits)

Ethics and the Environment

This post is mainly for my Theo 351 class, but it does raise larger issues about how truth and agreeement are reached even on a scientific issue. After watching this, do you agree that some industries could intentionally try to confuse and blur issues so that people continue to use a lot of gas and coal?


We know that global warming, or as folls now say, global climate change, is a big potical issue. But what about the ethics of it all? Do we have an obligation to cut down on our consumption? If so, do you see that happening? Are people, are YOU, more conscious about how much gas you use, about not littering, about how much energy you consume?

Run for Hope!

Now is the time to click and register for the Run for Hope this Saturday at 10am. You need to be sponsored (or just sponsor yourself)for at least $10. The proceeds will all go to the suffering people of the Darfur region of Sudan.

If any of my students can beat me, they will get the extra credit. But look out, I am fast! Okay, so sign up now for the Run for Hope by filling out the sheet at the link above and giving it to Mr. Nate Walker in V-157, next to financial aid office.

Abortion and BP Networks

Okay, here's what I want my Philo students to post on. As we have learned in class, one philosophical tool to help engage in moral discourse that is not interminable is to try to understand the web of beliefs and practices that make sense of a particular moral issue. For example, abortion is a very common practice, over a million a year. And many defend abortion to the nth degree. Why? What other B's and P's hold abortion in its place as something to be defended within certain worldviews. What values are being sought after, what other practices are related to it? So, to use our friendly molecular structure, what are the other elements of the paradigm that defends abortion? Think of beliefs as the connecting lines and practices as other atoms in the molecule.

Again, let me say an analysis like this that looks at B's and P's and history, language and culture is not the last step in the process of moral philosophy using postmodern tools. Rather it is the first. Once you understand someone's framework, you can show how this or that practice is or is not coherent with the values their framework attempts to uphold.

So first things first, let's be specific, let's name the beliefs and practices that situate a defense of abortion. Perhaps you think the BP network that justifies abortion is simply incoherent, lacking any structure. If so, say so. Perhaps your focus is on how social conditions give rise to abortion, perhaps on how feminism does, perhaps how a legal framework does. There are many angles from which to view this.

Mourning

Just a short post to give folks a chance to talk about the aftermath of the Virginia Tech tragedy. It seems that the media focus is on "who did this wrong" or "what different could have been done." All legitimate questions, but does anyone share with me the belief that one important thing to do at times like this is to really grieve, really mourn, really realize that we live in a broken world where evil exists. One reflection I had after the last class was how we all seem to react when the idea of evil, or the Devil, is introduced into discussions like this. As if we are all above that kind of silly talk. But maybe its not so silly: after all, does it really seem we are in charge in this world? Is it not a plausible philosophical conclusion that we are caught up in a cosmic battle between good and evil, a battle that includes us but also transcends us. Is that a plausible, coherent "narrative" to help explain our world? I think so. Share your thoughts on this or any aspect of the tragedy.