Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Chapter Seven
Reward and Punishment
Chapter Twelve
Lying, Cheating, Breaking Promises, and Stealing
Reward
Four basic ways in which good and bad can be distributed:
As equally among people as possible According to peoples abilities According to what they deserve or merit According to their needs
Punishment
Four Requirements:
It must involve unpleasantness of some sort It must be imposed or endured for some reason It must be imposed by some person or group that has duly constituted moral or legal authority It must be imposed according to certain rules or laws
Theories of Punishment
Retributive (deserts) theory states that punishment should be given only when it is deserved and only to the extent that it is deserved; it is concerned with the past rather than the future
Theories of Punishment
Utilitarian (results) theory is future oriented and given in order that. . . rather than because of . . . as in retributivism Consequences:
Imprisonment is not conducive to rehabilitation and reform Psychiatric or psychological treatment, rather than punishment, also is ineffectual
Theories of Punishment
Restitution, or compensation for victims, theory holds that justice is served only if victims are granted restitution for the crimes committed against them
Synthesis
No one who is innocent should be convicted or punished despite any good consequences coming from the punishment People must truly deserve any punishment they get, and it should fit the crime but not be excessive More serious crimes would require more serve punishment
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Human Rights
The promotion of human rights is a widely accepted project The concept of a right is powerful because it allows the bearer to make claims on others The importance of the contributions of human rights to civilization cannot be underestimated