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Punishment is a harm or deprivation, imposed by
a legitimate authority, based on a legitimate conviction
of wrongdoing. In assessing guilt, considerations of
intention, action and results are all relevant.
Any
understanding of punishment depends heavily on our interpretation
of both authority and responsibility. Paternalism
is one set of beliefs about who should have authority; it obviously
has been applied within the family, and it has a highly controversial
application in government. The authority of law and the
state is a topic of philosophical interest extending
at least back to Socrates.
The
way one understands the role and power of the state in
turn depends on assumptions about human nature. The philosopher
Thomas
Hobbes emphasized the benefits of a "common
power," based on the view that mankind is naturally warlike,
acquisitive, and egoistic. By contrast, John
Locke emphasized the benefits of liberty,
based on the view that people are naturally free and equal,
forming governments only for the purpose of protecting life
and property.
Criminal
responsibility requires that a person be able to freely
conform his conduct to law. An act is excused if
the perpetrator did not act voluntarily (e.g. due to
insanity); it is justified if there was good reason to
voluntarily commit the act. Assigning criminal responsiblity
is one of the most difficult and immediate problems in any criminal
justice system. Controversy continues today between corporal
punishment, imprisonment and capital punishment.
Society questions if any of these methods offer retribution
for the crime committed.
There
are essentially three philosophical models of punishment:
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Retributive punishment attempts to right a past
wrong; it responds either to the character of the act
the character of the person who committed it.
- Deterrence
looks to the future results of today's punishment.
It is designed to discourage would-be criminals, and
it may disable convicted criminals.
- Rehabilitation
also aims at future results by attempting to redeem
someone who has committed a transgression.
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