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Full Idea
One criticism of the retributive theory of punishment is that it is hard to know how to fit the punishment to the crime. What punishment should correspond to stealing chickens?
Gist of Idea
How should the punishment fit the crime (for stealing chickens?)
Source
Tuckness,A/Wolf,C (This is Political Philosophy [2017], 7 'Rationales')
Book Ref
Tuckness,A / Wolf,C: 'This is Political Philosophy' [Wiley Blackwell 2017], p.178
A Reaction
The ancient world was more keen on restitution for such crimes, which makes much better sense. Buy them some chickens, plus twenty percent.
| 1659 | Protagoras seems to have made the huge move of separating punishment from revenge [Protagoras, by Vlastos] |
| 1661 | Socrates was the first to grasp that a cruelty is not justified by another cruelty [Vlastos on Socrates] |
| 1755 | Errors result from external influence, and should be corrected, not hated [Aristippus elder, by Diog. Laertius] |
| 8241 | Only put someone to death if the whole population believes it is deserved [Mengzi (Mencius)] |
| 1660 | It is noble to avenge oneself on one's enemies, and not come to terms with them [Aristotle] |
| 19770 | Primitive people simply redressed the evil caused by violence, without thought of punishing [Rousseau] |
| 7673 | Retributive punishment is better than being sent to hospital for your crimes [Kant, by Berlin] |
| 21433 | Violation of rights deserves punishment, which is vengeance, rather than restitution [Kant] |
| 24118 | Do away with punishment. Counter-retribution is as bad as the crime [Nietzsche] |
| 18300 | Whenever we have seen suffering, we have wanted the revenge of punishment [Nietzsche] |
| 23527 | Moral wickedness of an offence is always relevant to the degree of punishment [Hart,HLA] |
| 1658 | In early Greece the word for punishment was also the word for vengeance [Vlastos] |
| 20617 | How should the punishment fit the crime (for stealing chickens?) [Tuckness/Wolf] |