
Contents
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1. Introduction 1. Introduction
-
1.1 What is to be Justified? 1.1 What is to be Justified?
-
1.2 Theory and Practice 1.2 Theory and Practice
-
1.3 What Kind of Justification? 1.3 What Kind of Justification?
-
1.4 Punishment and Crime 1.4 Punishment and Crime
-
1.5 Penal Theory and Political Philosophy 1.5 Penal Theory and Political Philosophy
-
-
2. Consequentialism and Punishment 2. Consequentialism and Punishment
-
2.1 Consequentialism 2.1 Consequentialism
-
2.2 Pure Consequentialism and the Rights of the Innocent 2.2 Pure Consequentialism and the Rights of the Innocent
-
2.3 Side-Constrained Consequentialism and the Moral Standing of the Guilty 2.3 Side-Constrained Consequentialism and the Moral Standing of the Guilty
-
-
3. Retributivism and Penal Desert 3. Retributivism and Penal Desert
-
3.1 ‘Positive’ Retributivism and the Meaning of Penal Desert 3.1 ‘Positive’ Retributivism and the Meaning of Penal Desert
-
3.2 Removing Unfair Advantages 3.2 Removing Unfair Advantages
-
3.3 Punitive Emotions 3.3 Punitive Emotions
-
-
4. Punishment and Communication 4. Punishment and Communication
-
4.1 Communicating Censure 4.1 Communicating Censure
-
4.2 Justifying Penal Hard Treatment 4.2 Justifying Penal Hard Treatment
-
4.3 Punishment as Penance 4.3 Punishment as Penance
-
4.4 Retribution and Restoration 4.4 Retribution and Restoration
-
-
5 Sentencing Matters 5 Sentencing Matters
-
5.1 How much to Punish? 5.1 How much to Punish?
-
5.2 How to Punish? 5.2 How to Punish?
-
-
6. Can Punishment be Justified? 6. Can Punishment be Justified?
-
References References
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
13 Punishment
Get accessR. A. Duff was educated at Oxford and (after a visiting year at the University of Washington) has taught philosophy at the University of Stirling since 1970. He held a British Academy Research Readership, 1989–91, and holds a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship, 2002–5. His publications include Trials and Punishments(1986), Intention, Agency, and Criminal Liability (1990), Criminal Attempts (1996), and Punishment, Communication, and Community (2000).
-
Published:02 September 2009
Cite
Abstract
This article's central question is: ‘What can justify a system of criminal punishment?’ That question is familiar, but merits clarification. The article focuses on criminal punishment imposed by criminal courts for criminal offences. So narrow a focus, though typical of penal philosophy, requires justification. First, it ignores other kinds of punishment, formal and informal, imposed by other agencies: by institutions or professions, in the family. What justifies this focus is that criminal punishment is distinctive in involving the state's exercise of its dominant coercive power over its citizens, and thus raises the distinctive question of what penal powers (if any) the state should have, and how they should be exercised. Secondly, it ignores other aspects of criminal justice, and the complex processes from which punishment flows — the investigation of crime, the criminal procedure of trial and conviction.
Sign in
Personal account
- Sign in with email/username & password
- Get email alerts
- Save searches
- Purchase content
- Activate your purchase/trial code
- Add your ORCID iD
Purchase
Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.
Purchasing informationMonth: | Total Views: |
---|---|
October 2022 | 10 |
November 2022 | 3 |
December 2022 | 6 |
January 2023 | 5 |
February 2023 | 3 |
March 2023 | 9 |
April 2023 | 9 |
May 2023 | 1 |
June 2023 | 2 |
July 2023 | 2 |
August 2023 | 3 |
September 2023 | 2 |
October 2023 | 4 |
November 2023 | 2 |
December 2023 | 6 |
January 2024 | 2 |
February 2024 | 5 |
March 2024 | 4 |
April 2024 | 7 |
May 2024 | 6 |
June 2024 | 13 |
July 2024 | 8 |
September 2024 | 8 |
October 2024 | 4 |
November 2024 | 1 |
December 2024 | 4 |
January 2025 | 4 |
February 2025 | 4 |
March 2025 | 2 |
April 2025 | 8 |
Get help with access
Institutional access
Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:
IP based access
Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.
Sign in through your institution
Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.
If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.
Sign in with a library card
Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.
Society Members
Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:
Sign in through society site
Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:
If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.
Sign in using a personal account
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.
Personal account
A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.
Viewing your signed in accounts
Click the account icon in the top right to:
Signed in but can't access content
Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.
Institutional account management
For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.