The author agrees that debates about capital punishment are too often controversies about its capacity to deter, thus neglecting the most serious moral issue, namely, whether death is a just punishment for certain crimes. Professor Wilson seems to think that an argument from justice, as distinguished from utility, for capital punishment is the claim that society cheapens the value of human life if an innocent victim dies while the killer lives. Conversely, the author argues that certain prima facie inconsistencies make the death penalty unjust. On the grounds of justice alone, execution as punishment (for murder, for example) is a virtual replication of the deed being punishment and therefore is morally reprehensible. Thirteen references are cited. (Author abstract modified)