FREE WILL AND MORAL RESPONSIBILITY: Reward And Punishment Flashcards
Crime is a mental condition
There are determining factors in a persons life for which they can’t be blamed
Treatment should therefore be therapeutic rather than retributive
Crime should be punished
Punishment might be carried out for:
Retribution
Deterrence
Protection
Determinism on reward and punishment
Pointless as all events are determined and unavoidable
Nobody can be blamed by God for doing what their determined nature makes them do
Skinner: Punishment isn’t effective because it makes people aggressive and resentful and people will go back to their behaviour. Psychological conditioning can direct people
Critiques of determinism on reward and punishment
Any attempt to apply conditioning must be determined by existing conditions- no difference can be made to what is determined
Libertarianism on reward and punishment
People are responsible for their actions so can be punished or rewarded
Kant: ought implies can- we are free to do what we ought. Only retribution allows the criminal to become a rational person who is responsible. If someone breaks the law then they push us back towards a state of nature. Society must reverse the maxim on the criminal
Our freedom is clear from the fact we can override compulsion
Compatibilism on reward and punishment
Moral choices aren’t the results of physical restraints or coercive threats. A person acted despite being aware of alternative actions
Hume: can’t punish or reward someone whose actions are done through ignorance. Punishment should be part of social engineering through which it helps repress antisocial behaviour. Heaven and hell are disproportionate to human good or evil
Problem with the compatibilist approach to reward and punishment
Just deserts- sentencing should be proportionate to the severity of the crime. Pays more attention to the criminal than the victim
