I have been brought up in a culture where capital punishment is indeed anathema. I have always thought of myself as a principled opponent to capital punishment. However, when thinking about how the topic is handled in other cultures, in particular the American, Russian and Chinese ones, I have realised that my own tack on the issue was utterly superficial.

We own ourselves. This is the core of a libertarian theory of rights. But on this theory, while we are at liberty to kill ourselves (regardless of the consequences of others), we are not allowed to kill others, not even if this means that there we be fewer murders in the future, totally speaking.

We should not accept moral nihilism unless we find strong arguments to do so.

I am a left winger, thought.

Even where people in different cultures agree they may all have gone wrong.

Different areas present us with possibilities to test different theories.

There are some particular moral truths that I believe we have access to (such as the one not to inflict pain on a sentient being for no reason).