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They're still a danger to society. If we start crossing into the metaphysical then we'd have to make excuses for peadophiles having 'messed up impulse control'

They're still a danger to society. If we start crossing into the metaphysical then we'd have to make excuses for peadophiles having 'messed up impulse control' too. But as another comment pointed out, we do account for this.

fighterpilot 5y ago
> They're still a danger to society Which is one of the reasons why we have incarceration, which I believe is absolutely necessary in some form in a case where a person is a danger to others (whether or not it's "their fault"). > we'd have to make excuses for peadophiles having 'messed up impulse control' too. It's not an excuse, it's more a description of reality. And it would apply to child abusers as well, as well as other criminals, yes. This isn't an argument against "punishing" these people. It's an argument for being clear about why we are "punishing" them, to make sure it's not a revenge motive (which is a heavily biologically driven motive in itself)
wanderingstan 5y ago
It’s not metaphysical, there are documented cases of biological causes (tumor) causing pedophilia: https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2943-brain-tumour-causes-uncontrollable-paedophilia/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2943-brain-tumour-cau...
Sebb767 5y ago
> They're still a danger to society. That's a different argument. The OP said it he'd like muderers to have a fate similar to their victims, basically as revenge. When executing someone for this reason, their guilt clearly does matter - someone who enjoys killing is far worse than someone with a medical condition. Whether their death is 'practical' is a different matter.