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Full Idea
To force a man to curb his desires, as we do by the criminal law, is not nearly so satisfactory as to cause him genuinely to feel the desires which promote socially harmonious conduct.
Gist of Idea
Legally curbing people's desires is inferior to improving their desires
Source
Bertrand Russell (An Outline of Philosophy [1927], Ch 22)
Book Ref
Russell,Bertrand: 'An Outline of Philosophy' [Routledge 1979], p.187
A Reaction
It is hard to disagree, but improving the desires of selfish and even vicious people is a rather challenging task.
| 23720 | Punishment makes people harder, more alienated, and hostile [Nietzsche] |
| 21744 | Legally curbing people's desires is inferior to improving their desires [Russell] |
| 23821 | Crime should be punished, to bring the perpetrator freely back to morality [Weil] |
| 23763 | Punishment aims at the good for men who don't desire it [Weil] |
| 23764 | The only thing in society worse than crime is repressive justice [Weil] |
| 21116 | Power is used to create identities and ways of life for other people [Foucault, by Shorten] |