Ethics: Moral Responsibility, Reward & Punishment

Two approaches to treatment of crime

- Reform

- Retribution

Reform

Identifying what led the offender to commit the crime, taking responsibility & leading to changed attitude.

Retribution

Giving a punishment the offender deserves for what they did; enabling reparation to be made.

Hard Determinist view of reward and punishment

Meaningless - Person who broke law didn't choose to do so.

Example reason for Hard Determinist view

Religious doctrine of predestination

Hard Determinism treatment for offender

Skinner suggested psychological conditioning as a way of reforming an offender's character.

Why do some Libertarians believe in retribution?

- Kant's "ought implies can" points to freedom of choice

- So retribution should be used for those whose moral responsibility was NOT diminished

Why do some Libertarians believe in reform?

Helps offenders make a conscious and freely-chosen decision to behave differently in the future

Compatibilist view of reward & punishment

Hume said actions should be judged praiseworthy/blameworthy only where "...they are indications of the internal character, passions, and affections."

Why do Compatibilists believe in reform?

- Adopts Watson & Skinners "carrot and stick" theory to manipulate behaviour

- Hume rejected (on moral grounds) any eternal punishment, as he believed it to be disproportionate to "the short-term offences of a frail creature like man."

Which theories support reformation?

Hard Determinism & Compatiblism

Which theory supports both reformation & retribution?

Libertarianism