Philosophy
Interesting conversation going on at Lawyers, Guns, and Money. It came from a Roman Polanski thread wherein some commenters argued that he should not be prosecuted because convicting and sentencing Polanski (i) holds no deterrence effect for the community at large, and (ii) have no effect on him because since the crime (and no one argues that the rape of the 13 year old was not committed by him), he has led the life of a productive, responsible citizen.
So, what is the purpose of punishment? Is it to exact revenge? Is it a matter of retributive justice? Is it a matter of securing society from wrong doers? Is it to discourage others from committing similar acts? Is it a matter of reforming those with deformed characters? Is it a matter or making clear society's disapproval of the act? Does it matter if the victim or the victim's family does not want the crime punished and has forgiven the perpetrator? What of victimless crimes? Should everyone who commits a similar crime receive similar punishments?
- Is Crime Healthy For Society?
In his book on the sociological method, Emile Durkheim argues that while individual criminal acts may be pathological to social health, crime itself actually is good for society. At first glance, we think that eliminating all crime would be a positive...
- Prison Rape
Yesterday was the sentencing of the young man who stabbed his ex-girlfriend at the school where I teach and I overheard someone saying, upon hearing the sentence and the facility in which he would be held, that he would surely become someone's bitch...
- Is Crime Healthy?
I've been working through Emile Durkheim's classic The Rules of Sociological Method and in one section he works to draw a line between types of acts that are normal and those that are pathological. I don't want to discuss the criterion, but...
- Social, Moral, And Ethical Inhibitors In The Modern Age
We live in a radically different society from the time of Plato and Socrates lived. The changes that have come about since then have changed the way that people deal with their problems and issues from day to day. Certain actions are permitted while others...
- Punishment Scale
This is still primitive...demanding revenge [punishment] for a specific order of crimes. I suppose that this will be forever a part of humanity but it would utopian to assume that it would ever reach the human status of crime in the era of Star Trek:...
Philosophy
The Purpose of Punishment
Interesting conversation going on at Lawyers, Guns, and Money. It came from a Roman Polanski thread wherein some commenters argued that he should not be prosecuted because convicting and sentencing Polanski (i) holds no deterrence effect for the community at large, and (ii) have no effect on him because since the crime (and no one argues that the rape of the 13 year old was not committed by him), he has led the life of a productive, responsible citizen.
So, what is the purpose of punishment? Is it to exact revenge? Is it a matter of retributive justice? Is it a matter of securing society from wrong doers? Is it to discourage others from committing similar acts? Is it a matter of reforming those with deformed characters? Is it a matter or making clear society's disapproval of the act? Does it matter if the victim or the victim's family does not want the crime punished and has forgiven the perpetrator? What of victimless crimes? Should everyone who commits a similar crime receive similar punishments?
- Is Crime Healthy For Society?
In his book on the sociological method, Emile Durkheim argues that while individual criminal acts may be pathological to social health, crime itself actually is good for society. At first glance, we think that eliminating all crime would be a positive...
- Prison Rape
Yesterday was the sentencing of the young man who stabbed his ex-girlfriend at the school where I teach and I overheard someone saying, upon hearing the sentence and the facility in which he would be held, that he would surely become someone's bitch...
- Is Crime Healthy?
I've been working through Emile Durkheim's classic The Rules of Sociological Method and in one section he works to draw a line between types of acts that are normal and those that are pathological. I don't want to discuss the criterion, but...
- Social, Moral, And Ethical Inhibitors In The Modern Age
We live in a radically different society from the time of Plato and Socrates lived. The changes that have come about since then have changed the way that people deal with their problems and issues from day to day. Certain actions are permitted while others...
- Punishment Scale
This is still primitive...demanding revenge [punishment] for a specific order of crimes. I suppose that this will be forever a part of humanity but it would utopian to assume that it would ever reach the human status of crime in the era of Star Trek:...