PHIL 1200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 70: Categorical Imperative, Kantian Ethics
15 May 2017
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Punishing might increase the amount of misery in the world, but that is okay, since, after all, the offender deserve the punishment. The fact that people are rational agents, and should be treated as ends and not means. People are autonomous to decide about their actions. We should not try to mold them into what we would want them to be, through correction. But when they act in evil ways, people should expect to be punished. People should be punished simply because they have committed crimes, and for no other reason. The punishment people receive should be proportionate to the seriousness of the crime. Punishment for kant is a matter of justice. So, if someone hurts somebody else, that means they would also consider it proper that they be hurt in turn, too some problem cases for kantian ethics: In both cases, telling the truth will result in the death of innocent people.
