UW Professor Fear of Death Inspires Death Penalty Views / Public News Service
A new book by a University of Washington professor on the death penalty finds support for executions may be motivated by people's own fear of death. Philip Hansten, professor emeritus of pharmacology at the University of Washington and author of "Death Penalty Bulls---," argues against the practice. Hansten draws on work by Ernest Becker, an anthropologist who said reminding people of their own mortality made them cling tighter to their cultural views and even increases people's punitive urges in order to defend their culture. ...
Source: publicnewsservice.org
