Single Idea 23720

[catalogued under 25. Social Practice / D. Justice / 3. Punishment / d. Reform of offenders]

Full Idea

On the whole, punishment makes men harder and colder, it concentrates, it sharpens the feeling of alienation; it strengthens the power to resist.

Gist of Idea

Punishment makes people harder, more alienated, and hostile

Source

Friedrich Nietzsche (On the Genealogy of Morals [1887], II.§14)

Book Reference

Nietzsche,Friedrich: 'On the Genealogy of Morals', ed/tr. Diethe, Carol [CUP 1997], p.54


A Reaction

If the school system involves routine harsh punishments, that means that the whole population ends up in that state. I would have thought that this was an obvious truth about punishment, but no one seems to want to face up to it.