-
Retribution, Part 3 to blupete's Essay
"On The Theory of Punishment"
-
It is to be remembered that one of the primary reasons for the law's existence, indeed the state's existence, is that people are to be relieved of their need to strike out against those who have wronged them. Not to argue the rights or wrongs of it; it is entirely natural for an individual, when injured or harmed by another or others, to seek revenge and retribution. It is potentially harmful to the state if it does not satisfy these needs, these urges. If the people are not satisfied, as history clearly shows, then the people take the law into their own hands; and, they will do so, quick enough, if they see that the law does not suit their purposes. To punish the criminal, in order to satisfy the urges of the victim for revenge and retribution is an expression of a very old law, which still finds expression in our existing law, lex talionis10. The Mosaic Code of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" lurks behind most legal punishments.
NEXT
Or, GO TO
TABLE OF CONTENTS
2011 (2019)
