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Even if free will is a myth and people aren't responsible for any of their actions, prison still makes sense for two purposes: (1) deterrence is still possible
by bonniemuffin 8y ago
Even if free will is a myth and people aren't responsible for any of their actions, prison still makes sense for two purposes:
(1) deterrence is still possible even without free will, and
(2) it's important to remove potential repeat offenders from society so they don't have the opportunity to offend again.
The only aspect of the criminal justice system that it removes is the vindictive element-- it no longer makes sense to send people to prison to punish them and 'get back at' them, because they may not have been truly in control of their actions.
- vorotato 8y agoRehabilitation has been shown to be more effective than punitive deterrence though.
- mantas 8y agoRehabilitation still includes removing offenders from society till they're fixed.
- bonniemuffin 8y agoAbsolutely, totally agree. Prison should only be used when someone absolutely must be removed from society in order to keep the rest of the population safe; I think many people currently in prison should be in some sort of rehabilitation program instead.
- manifestsilence 8y agoThis is so important. It removes the very idea of "justice" as a valid reason for enforcement. Social Justice is far less interesting to me than Social Good. Let's promote things with good outcomes, regardless of our judgement on who deserves those outcomes.