PHIL 307 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Spring Break, Consequentialism, Rationality
26 May 2016
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There will be no class on the 26th. The reason we are justified in punishing criminals is that punishing criminals will bring good results that can"t be brought about as effectively any other way. Say that punishment is justified by its consequences. Punishment is justified by the fact that the criminal deserves to be punished. Each punishment is vulnerable to serious line of objection. If the aim of punishment is to deter, then we can often achieve that aim without treating that person as they deserve. We could jail a person who is innocent that looks guilty just to deter others. Incapacitation is the poster child for this argument. We could punish people who don"t deserve it because they have an excuse. In order to deter we probably have to punish out of proportion to the crime. If the punishment doesn"t have any good consequences, then it amounts to little more than needless suffering.
