University of Kansas, Spring 2005
Philosophy 674: Philosophy of Law
Ben Eggleston—eggleston@ku.edu

Class notes: chapter 5

The following notes correspond roughly to what we cover, including at least a portion of what I put on the board or the screen, in class. In places they may be more or less comprehensive than what we actually cover in class, and should not be taken as a substitute for your own observations and records of what goes on in class.

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  1. pp. 135–147
    1. the utilitarian approach to punishment
      1. Punishment is inherently bad, since it’s a harm for the person being punished.
      2. But punishment can still be justified, if its other consequences are good enough.
      3. The main objection to the utilitarian approach is that it seems to require punishment even when, intuitively, punishment is not really morally justified (such as when it requires that an innocent person be punished).
    2. the retributivist approach to punishment
      1. Punishment is a matter of desert—criminals deserve to be punished regardless of whether it promotes safety, deterrence, etc.
      2. There are many objections to this approach; one prominent one is that it is hard to see how any conduct naturally deserves criminal punishment.
    3. the therapeutic approach to punishment
      1. Punishment is a matter of therapy—criminals should be trained so that they do not continue to break the law.
      2. There are many objections to this approach; one prominent one is that it would seem to sanction preventive punishment—punishing people (or, rather, “helping” them) before they break the law.
  2. pp. 147–157—lecture based on study questions
  3. pp. 157–166—lecture based on study questions