Rethinking Capital Punishment - The Pre-History of the Abolition of the Death Penalty

The death penalty was accepted almost universally until the 18th century, when Giuseppe Pelli of Florence and Cesare Beccaria of Milan produced works calling for its abolition. This study is the first to trace the origins of these ideas, from the Lex Talionis in the Code of Hammurabi to the emergence of utilitarianism in the late 18th century.