Honor and Revenge: A Theory of Punishment

By: Whitley R.P. Kaufman

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Synopsis: This book addresses the problem of justifying the institution of criminal punishment. It examines the "paradox of retribution": the fact that we cannot seem to reject the intuition that punishment is morally required, and yet we cannot (even after two thousand years of philosophical debate) find a morally legitimate basis for inflicting harm on wrongdoers. The book comes at a time when a new "abolitionist" movement has arisen, a movement that argues that we should give up the search for justification and accept that punishment is morally unjustifiable and should be discontinued immediately. This book, however, proposes a new approach to the retributive theory of punishment, arguing that it should be understood in its traditional formulation that has been long forgotten or dismissed: that punishment is essentially a defense of the honor of the victim. Properly understood, this can give us the possibility of a legitimate moral justification for the institution of punishment.

Book Quality:: Publisher Quality
ISBN-13:: 9789400748453
Related ISBNs:: 9789400748446
Publisher:: Springer Netherlands
Date of Addition:: 09/02/16
Copyrighted By:: Springer
Adult content:: No
Language:: English
Has Image Descriptions:: No
Categories:: Nonfiction, Reference, Social Studies, Law, Legal Issues and Ethics, Philosophy
Submitted By:: Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:: This is a copyrighted book.