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 whena new 'abolitionist'? movement has arisen, a movement that argues that we should give up the search for justification and accept that punishment is morallyunjustifiable 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. INDICE: Chapter One: The Problem of Punishment.- Chapter Two: Punishment as Crime Prevention.- Chapter Three: Can Retributive Punishment Be Justified?.-Chapter Four: The Mixed Theory of Punishment.- Chapter Five: Retribution and Revenge.- Chapter Six: What Is The Purpose of Retribution?.- Chapter Seven: Making Sense of Honor.- Chapter Eight: Is Punishment Justified?.- Index.
- ISBN: 978-94-007-4844-6
- Editorial: Springer
- Encuadernacion: Cartoné
- Fecha Publicación: 30/09/2012
- Nº Volúmenes: 1
- Idioma: Inglés