[Autolykos]

Quote by: Epistemologist Well, no, I said why it doesn't necessarily lead to that kind of society, because the sentence would be limited.

I didn't say "necessarily lead", I said "could lead". :)

But one might say that when things--especially killing--are taken out of the hands of the state, power becomes redistributed to smaller units (i.e. from the government to individuals), and then we'd have a bunch of people battling against each other. That would [be] a faulty view, though, because, again, outlawing would be regulated by the government, and families have a choice to let the outlaw go.

Would redistributing power to smaller units necessarily (here I am using the word ) lead to "a bunch of people battling against each other"? On the one hand, the outlaw would have no incentive not to commit crime, since he's already been given the ultimate punishment -- absence of any legal protection. But on the other hand, it also means that others could commit crimes against him (including murder) with legal impunity.

Some might also say that there's nothing to stop victim's families from blowing up a bomb in a cafe to kill an outlaw while also making collateral damage, but then I suppose their impunity would be invalidated.

Yes, their impunity would only extend to the outlaw himself. Then again, there's nothing stopping what you describe above today, aside from physical constraints.

And perhaps the biggest objection to outlawing would be that it seems to take away the "institutionalized" part of the institutionalized killing that's the death penalty; that's basically the only thing that differentiates it from regular murder. But again, the government would still have a major hand in the killing. Perhaps outlawing would just be like offering the victim's family members to be the executioners (without salary) at the criminal's death; in fact, I guess that's what it is.

What's so special about the "institutionalized" part, anyway?

I don't think outlawing would be so restrictive, and historically it wasn't. The government wouldn't necessarily be handing the convict a death sentence; it would simply say "You have no rights anymore".

- Rob