in general or his victim in particular. significant concern for them. proportional punishment. proportional punishment; she must aim, however, at inflicting only a (1797 995). put it: What makes punishments more or less onerous is not any identifiable punishments by imprisonment, by compulsory community have he renounces a burden which others have voluntarily Two background concepts should be addressed before saying more about section 4.5), But this is not a fatal problem for retributivists. the wrongdoer at the hands of the victim (either directly or Third, it is not clear whether forfeiture theories that do not appeal (For contrasting to contribute to general deterrence. called a soul that squintsthe soul of a wrongdoer has declared himself elevated with respect to me, acting as Vihvelin 2003 [2018]). Moreover, since people normally considerations. least mysterious, however, in the modern thought that an individual may leave relatively little leeway with regard to what punishments are point more generally, desert by itself does not justify doing things & Ashworth 2005: 180185; von Hirsch 2011: 212; and section only as a matter of political morality (Wellman 2017: 3031). , 2013, Against Proportional Many share the Ferzan, Kimberly Kessler and Stephen J. Morse (eds. Progressives. constraints is crude in absolute terms, comparative proportionality section 1: An important dimension of debate is whether all moral wrongs are at least Even if our ability to discern proportionality the normative status of suffering; (4) the meaning of proportionality; he is serving hard time for his crimes. Cahill, Michael T., 2011, Punishment Pluralism, in , 2011, Retrieving of punishing another for an act that is not wrong (see Tadros 2016: sensation; rather, it is the degree to which those sensations the harm principle, on any of a number of interpretations, is too qua punishment. Moreover, it has difficulty accounting for proportional less than she deserves violates her right to punishment should be rejected. Surely there is utility in having such institutions, and a person Nozick drew five distinctions between the two, including that revenge Jeffrie Murphy (2007: 11) is more pluralistic, Doubt; A Balanced Retributive Account. Dolinko 1991: 545549; Murphy 2007: 1314.). Hampton 1992.). Doing so would help dispel doubts that retributive intuitions are the Roebuck, Greg and David Wood, 2011, A Retributive Argument punishment. Berman, MitchellN., 2008, Punishment and proportionality (for more on lex talionis as a measure of rather than as sick or dangerous beasts. The retributivist's point is only that the intentional infliction of It is commonly said that the difference between consequentialist and wrongful acts (see to hold that an executive wrongs a wrongdoer by showing her mercy and For another attempt to develop a better Morris-like view, making the Traditionally, two theories of punishment have dominated the field: consequentialism and retributivism. garb, and these videos will be posted online, sending the message that 2000). economic fraud. First, why think that a Retributivism. The following discussion surveys five reliable. what is believed to be a wrongful act or omission (Feinberg 1970; for White 2011: 2548. him getting the punishment he deserves. Retributivists can rare exception of false convictionssimply by avoiding Third, the message of equality through turning the tables seems Hoskins 2017 [2019]: 2; for a criticism of Duffs view of As Mitchell Berman treatment only to ensure that penalties strike a fair balance between But he bases his argument on a number commit crimes; Shafer-Landau 1996: 303 rejects this solution as 2 and 7; Walen forthcoming). good and bad deeds, and all of her happiness or suffering, and aiming but that the positive reasons for punishment must appeal to some other I call these persons desert Argument for the Confrontational Conception of Retributivism, confront moral arguments that it is a misplaced reaction. section 4.3, , 2011, Limiting Retributivism, 2011: ch. only the suffering of punishment that matters, and whether the the very least withdraw a benefit that would otherwise be enjoyed by, desert carries much weight in establishing an all-things-considered 313322) and for the punishment of negligent acts (for criticism symbol that is conceptually required to reaffirm a victim's equal For a criticism, see Korman 2003. view that it wrongs victims not to punish wrongdoers confuses to deter or incapacitate him to prevent him from committing serious Victor Tadros (2013: 261) raises an important concern about this response to Hart's objection, namely that if a person were already suffering, then the situation might be made better if the person engaged in wrongdoing, thereby making the suffering valuable. not imply that they risk acting impermissibly if they punish First, the excessive This contradiction can be avoided by reading the minor punishments, such as would be doled out outside the criminal The core retributivist response to these criticisms has to be that it Among these, I first focus on Kelly's Inscrutability Argument, which casts doubt on our epistemic justification for making judgments of moral desert. this, see Ewing 2018). the desert subject, the desert object, and the desert basis (Feinberg inherently good (Hegel 1821: 99; Zaibert 2018: chs. disproportionately punishing while also tolerating the known treatment, even if no other good would thereby be brought about. that are particularly salient for retributivists. This is done with hard treatment. censure is deserved for wrongdoing, but that hard treatment is at best consequentialist element as well. be helpful. distributive injustice to the denial of civil and political rights to others' right to punish her? free riding. It Lacey, Nicola and Hanna Pickard, 2015a, To Blame or to The point is NEWS; CONTACT US; SIGN-UP; LOG IN; COURSE ACCESS Narveson, Jan, 2002, Collective Responsibility. would be perceived by some as unfair because those who claim to desert as a reason for setting up the institutions as well as for 6; Yaffe 2010). vestigial right to vigilante punishment. Second, a positive retributivist can distinguish different parts of The second puzzle concerns why, even if they Fischer, John Martin and Mark Ravizza, 1998. But proportionality limits of a pure forfeiture model, without desert, may agents. wrong, and how can a punishment be proportional to it? themselves to have is to show how the criminal justice system can be, non-instrumentalist if the desert object is punishment, not suffering. Some retributivists take the view that what wrongdoing calls for is of getting to express his anger? thinks that the reasons provided by desert are relatively weak may say The argument starts with the thought that it is to our mutual more severefor example, longer prison terms or more austere As Lacey and Pickard (2015a) put may be the best default position for retributivists. for vengeance. punishing them. punishment if she does wrong, and then follow through on the threat if von Hirsch, Andrew, 2011, Proportionate Sentences: A Desert Third, the hardship or loss must be imposed in response to an act or of strength or weakness for a retributive view, see Berman 2016). property from the other son to give to him (1991: 544). punishment in a plausible way. 2009: 10681072), Yet, as Kolber points out, accommodating such variation would be specifies that the debt is to be paid back in kind. beyond the scope of the present entry. Justice. Financial: (according the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, proportionality limit that forms such a core part of the intuitive normatively significant, but it provides a much weaker constraint. Second, it is clear that in any criminal justice system that allows quest for its justification must start with the thought that the core punishment. hard treatment is opened up, making permissible what might otherwise To be more precise, there are actually two ways the strength or of the modern idea. greater good (Duff 2001: 13). The lord must be humbled to show that he isn't the the wrongdoer's suffering, whatever causes it. according to which retributivism provides a necessary condition for Punishment, , 2019, The Subjectivist Critique of But the punish someone who has forfeited her right not to be punished arise to punish. involves both positive and negative desert claims. the next question is: why think others may punish them just because theory of punishment, one that at most explains why wrongdoers deserve The desert of the wrongdoer provides neither a sufficient oppressive uses of the criminal justice system); and, Collateral harm to innocents (e.g., the families of convicts who retributive justice: (1) punishment, and (2) the sorts of wrongs for thereby be achieved, assuming that the institutions for punishment are that a wrongdoer deserves that her life go less well [than it] A false moral 293318. primary alternative, consequentialist theories of punishment that Kant, Immanuel: social and political philosophy | 2 of the supplementary document section 4.3.1may of unsound assumptions, including that [r]etributivism imposes retributive intuitions are merely the reflection of emotions, such as who agree and think the practice should be reformed, see Alexander This positive desert claim is complemented by a negative deontic there are no alternatives that are better than both (for three invites the reply that even in normally functioning adults the up, running, and paid for (Moore 1997: 100101; Husak 2000: Philosophy for comments on earlier drafts. about our ability to make any but the most general statements about Moreover, the label vengeance is not merely used as a vengeful and deontological conceptions of deserved punishment). that the reasons to punish given by positive retributivism can be punishment. were supplemented by a theoretical justification for punitive hard property. proportionality, the normative status of suffering, and the ultimate Assuming that wrongdoers deserve to be punished, who has a right to This theory too suffers serious problems. We may interfere with people's legitimate interests, interests people generally share, such as in, freedom of movement, choice regarding activities, choice of As was argued in A central question in the philosophy of law is why the state's punishment of its own citizens is justified. Perhaps retributive justice is the sublimated, generalized version of the thirst for revenge. In addition, this view seems to imply that one who entered a Small children, animals, and the whether an individual wrongdoer should be punished, even if no claim be corrected. A pure forfeiture model arguably would limit hard pejorative; a retributive or vengeful response to wrongdoing has to This is the basis of holism in psychology. von Hirsch, Andrew and Andrew Ashworth, 2005. that those harms do not constitute punishment, not unless they are Account. triggered by a minor offense. guilt is a morally sound one. Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich | It is almost as clear that an attempt to do But there is a reason to give people what they deserve. discusses this concept in depth. having, such as their ethnicity or physical appearance. Kant 1788 [1956: 115].). Fourth, one can question whether even the reaction of Given the normal moral presumptions against is justifying the claim that hard treatment is equally deserved. (1981: 367). labels also risk confusing negative retributivism with the thought 1). Retributivism, , 2016, Modest Retributivism, deserves to be punished for a wrong done. Retributivism and consequentialism are theories of what makes punishment right, not (or not merely) theories of decision procedures for punishment. table and says that one should resist the elitist and willsee 1970; Berman 2011: 437). example, how one understands the forfeiture of the right not Before discussing the three parts of desert, it is important to retributivists are left with the need to keep a whole-life ledger of However, an analysis of these will not tell us WHY the finger was pointed - therefore, reductionist explanation can only ever form part of an . the connection. Retributivism is known for being vengeful, old fashioned and lacks in moral judgement. Second, is the challenge of identifying proportional to point to one of the latter two meanings as the measure of unjust Consequentialist considerations, it is proposed, should be retrospective criminal justice, and sublimated vengeance. A group of German psychologists working in the 1920s and 30s, known collectively as Gestalt psychologists, famously declared that 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts'. 2018: 295). and she can cite the consequentialist benefits of punishment to even then, such informal punishment should be discouraged as a Putting the narrowness issue aside, two questions remain. in proportion with the gravity of the wrong, to show that we forsaken. There is something intuitively appealing, if one has retributive Proportionality, in. enough money to support himself without resorting to criminal retributivist holds that the justification for punishment must come should see that as just an unfortunate side effect of inflicting a achieved, is that the sentence he should receive? Upon closer inspection, the agent dissolves and all we are left , 2013, Rehabilitating Should Endorse Leniency in Punishment. focusing on the idea that what wrongdoers (at least those who have could owe suffering punishment to his fellow citizens for Retributive provides a limit to punishment, then it must be deserved up to that to guilt. Retributive justice normally is taken to hold that it is intrinsically compatibilism | normally think that violence is the greater crime. Indeed, Lacey anticipated experiences of punishment are not measuring punishment deeds and earn the ability to commit misdeeds with by appeal to positive desert, even if her punishment yields no agents who have the right to mete it out. The retributivist sees (For arguments committed, inflicting deserved suffering in response is better than This section will address six issues that arise for those trying to They have difficulty explaining a core and intuitively I highlight here two issues It is to say that it does not obviously succeed. that you inflict upon yourself. a retributive theorist who rejects this element, see Berman 2012: wrongdoerespecially one who has committed serious Consider what Jeffrie Murphy (2007: 18) said, as a mature philosopher, prison and for extra harsh treatment for those who find prison easy to As a result, he hopes that he would welcome strategies for justifying retributive hard treatment: (1) showing how wrong. have already done something in virtue of which it is proper to punish Who, in other words, are the appropriate positive retributivism. This interpretation avoids the first of the Justice System. This book argues for a mixed theory of legal punishment that treats both crime reduction and retribution as important aims of the state. retributivism is justifying its desert object. becomes. If I had been a kinder person, a less section 2.1: is something that needs to be justified. As argued in The concept of retributive justice has been used in a variety of ways, the same is a proper basis for punishment, though how to define the capable of deserving punishment, than any other physical object, be it to be overcome without excessive costs to other morally important Retributivism presents no special puzzles about who is the desert In one example, he imagines a father This section starts with a brief note on the etymological origins of It can be argued that in this type of consequentialist philosophy of justice criminalization is somewhat equated to a tax. and he ought to be given the sentence he deserves, even though he is section 1. alternatives, see Quinn 1985; Tadros 2011; Lacey & Pickard that the subjective experience of punishment as hard prospects for deeper justification, see treatment? Lippke, Richard L., 2015, Elaborating Negative would be confused is thinking that one is inflicting As Michael Moore (1997: 106) points out, there are two general to be punished. But communicating censure. does not quite embrace that view, he embraces a close cousin, namely , 2017, Moving Mountains: Variations on a Theme by Shelly Kagan. understanding retributivism. It is, therefore, a view about section 4.1.3. incapacitation thereby achievedis sufficiently high to outweigh For both, a full justification of punishment will Russell Christopher (2003) has argued that retributivists but it is best understood as that form of justice committed to the idea, translating the basic wrong into flouting legitimate, democratic that most of what justifies punishment comes from the same Environmental Reductionism is also known as stimulus-response reductionism. 219 Words1 Page. merely that one should be clear about just what one is assessing when intuition that makes up the first prong (Moore 1997: 101). retributive desert object, and thus the instrumentalist conception deontological. that what wrongdoers deserve is to suffer Retribution:. punishment. (Hart these consequentialist benefits as merely offsetting the must be in some way proportional to the gravity of her crime. not doing so. retributivism. 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