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> morally deserve to suffer a proportionate punishment I fail to see what is "moral" about retributivism. My morality is about what I do; I have no right to im
by denton-scratch 3y ago
> morally deserve to suffer a proportionate punishment
I fail to see what is "moral" about retributivism. My morality is about what I do; I have no right to impose my standards on others. Consequently I'm opposed to the idea of punishment in criminal justice. Punishment is simply the practical expression of anger, which shouldn't have any part in the outcome of a criminal case.
TFA doesn't explain what is meant by "moral", but I think the author means something very different from how I use the word (I generally avoid it).
- thisgoesnowhere 3y ago> I have no right to impose my standards on others Sure you do, through democratic institutions. It's called living in a society.
- denton-scratch 3y agoDemocracy grants me the power to impose my moral opinions on others. That's not a right, IMO. > It's called living in a society. That's trite and dismissive.
- thisgoesnowhere 3y agoHow could you have a right to vote without the vote being able to impose the opinions of the majority onto the minority? Feels like a right to me. Also I'm not trying to be dismissive even though I do disagree with you, apologies.
- denton-scratch 3y agoApologies accepted; not really needed. Voting is, of course, the imposition of the will of the majority on some minority. I just don't think majority voting is the right way to deal with issues of moral judgement. I don't think morality should have anything to do with criminal legislation, because I think morality is a private matter - something people have to figure out for themselves.