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Hampton on the Expressive Power of Punishment
Author(s) -
Gert Heather J.,
Radzik Linda,
Hand Michael
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of social philosophy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.353
H-Index - 31
eISSN - 1467-9833
pISSN - 0047-2786
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9833.2004.00217.x
Subject(s) - citation , punishment (psychology) , power (physics) , library science , computer science , psychology , social psychology , physics , quantum mechanics
Hampton‘s expressive theory of retributive punishment is intended to provide a telos for retribution, a justifying aim that will both shed light on the retributive impulse and dispel the moral uneasiness critics feel about the intentional infliction of suffering on wrongdoers. The central idea is to show that the retributive impulse goes hand in hand with a commitment to egalitarian moral values. However, a close examination of the theory reveals the opposite. If punishment sends the message that the offender and the victim are equally valuable, it does so only by sending the message that a person‘s value is correlated with his ability to exert coercive force over other human beings.