Kant on Why Criminal Offenders Must Be Punished. Issue 4 (29th November 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Pickering, Mark
• Is Part Of: Southern journal of philosophy. Volume 60:Issue 4(2022)
• Page Start: 637
• Page End: 663
• Publication Date: 2022-11-29
• Subjects: 105
• DOI: 10.1111/sjp.12486
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0038-4283

Abstract

Abstract: Kant gives what appear to be consequentialist and retributivist reasons for his claim that the state must punish criminal offenders. I argue that Kant's justification is retributivist and not consequentialist. In particular, I argue that Kant's justification is found in his argument that we must attribute to an offender's reason the judgment that she must be punished. I argue that other retributivist interpretations as well as interpretations that prioritize consequentialist reasons have little textual support. I also reconstruct an argument that Kant implies for his claim that ius talionis is the proper criterion for determining the quality and quantity of punishment.