I believe that Edison’s position on electrocution is unethical, because he changes his views rather quickly, when he realizes the advantages. When he was first asked about the use of electricity in execution, Edison responded in a unmistakeable no. He stated that he was both against the death penalty and he was against the use of electricity in execution. It is seemingly only after he realizes that he could use this to discredit AC, that he changes his position on capital punishment, and suggests that somewhere around 1000 volts of AC from a Westinghouse generator would be enough to kill a person.
November 19, 2008 at 3:17 pm |
Good use of evidence and quotes from the text. You need to clarify your thesis. From reading your post I think you were trying to say that Edison’s position on electrocution is unethical because he uses his position, which is higly regarded by others, for his own personal motives (to discredit AC) instead of basing his position on sound scientific evidence. Whether your thesis is that Edison’s position is unethical because he uses it for personal motives or because he is undecisive, make sure it is clear to the reader what your thesis is and then make sure your evidence supports that thesis. It helps to constantly refer back to the thesis to make sure you stay on topic and your evidence supports your claim.