I was hoping a Frenchman would recognize that I was merely paraphrasing one of Hugo's main arguments against capital punishment, developed in his preface of Le

I was hoping a Frenchman would recognize that I was merely paraphrasing one of Hugo's main arguments against capital punishment, developed in his preface of Le Dernier Jour d'un condamné, rather than "close the case on one of the oldest philosophical problems in existence".