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Single Idea 7219

[filed under theme 25. Social Practice / D. Justice / 3. Punishment / a. Right to punish ]

Full Idea

My second maxim is that for actions that are prejudicial to the interests of others, the individual is accountable, and subject to social or legal punishment, if society believes that this is requisite for its protection.

Gist of Idea

Society can punish actions which it believes to be prejudicial to others

Source

John Stuart Mill (On Liberty [1857], Ch.5)

Book Ref

Mill,John Stuart: 'Utilitarianism (including On Liberty etc)', ed/tr. Warnock,Mary [Fontana 1962], p.226

A Reaction

(wording compressed). The trouble with this would seem to be the possible disagreement between the individual and the society over whether the actions actually are prejudicial to others. It would justify a conservative society in being repressive.

The 21 ideas with the same theme [what grounds the right of the state to punish]:

22604 Punishing a criminal for moral ignorance is the same as punishing someone for being blind [Epictetus]
23368 Perhaps we should persuade culprits that their punishment is just? [Epictetus]
7294 No crime and no punishment without a law [Roman law]
23268 We execute irredeemable people, to protect ourselves, as a deterrent, and ending a bad life [Galen]
2380 Punishment should only be for reform or deterrence [Hobbes]
19867 Reparation and restraint are the only justifications for punishment [Locke]
19869 Punishment should make crime a bad bargain, leading to repentance and deterrence [Locke]
19912 Self-defence is natural, but not the punishment of superiors by inferiors [Locke]
12936 There are natural rewards and punishments, like illness after over-indulgence [Leibniz]
20002 The death penalty is permissible, because its victims enjoyed the protection of that law [Montesquieu]
20010 If religion teaches determinism, penalties must be severe; if free will, then that is different [Montesquieu]
19809 We accept the death penalty to prevent assassinations, so we must submit to it if necessary [Rousseau]
19810 A trial proves that a criminal has broken the social treaty, and is no longer a member of the state [Rousseau]
21088 Justice asserts the death penalty for murder, from a priori laws [Kant]
7219 Society can punish actions which it believes to be prejudicial to others [Mill]
20232 Get rid of the idea of punishment! It is a noxious weed! [Nietzsche]
24098 Reasons that justify punishment can also justify the crime [Nietzsche]
14814 Execution is worse than murder, because we are using the victim, and really we are the guilty [Nietzsche]
23852 To punish people we must ourselves be innocent - but that undermines the desire to punish [Weil]
6572 Deterrence, prevention, rehabilitation and retribution can come into conflict in punishments [Fogelin]
6573 Retributivists say a crime can be 'paid for'; deterrentists still worry about potential victims [Fogelin]