German idealism and the concept of punishment / Jean-Christophe Merle ; translated from the German by Joseph J. Kominkiewicz with Jean-Christophe Merle and Frances Brown.

By:

Merle, Jean-Christophe [author.]

Contributor(s):

Language: English Original language: German Series: Modern European philosophyPublisher: Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2009Description: 1 online resource (xv, 207 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)Content type:

text

Media type:

computer

Carrier type:

online resource

ISBN:

9780511770425 (ebook)

Other title:

German Idealism & the Concept of Punishment

Uniform titles:

Strafen aus Respekt vor der Menschenwürde. English

Subject(s):

Genre/Form:

Electronic books.

Additional physical formats: Print version: : No titleDDC classification:

345/.07701 22

LOC classification:

K5103 .M46913 2009

Online resources:

Click here to access online

Contents:

The two Kantian concepts of right -- Kant's legal justification of punishment -- Kant's moral justification of punishment -- Fichte's "expiation contract" -- Hegel's "negation of crime" -- Nietzsche and punishment without remorse -- What is the purpose of punishing crimes against humanity?

Summary: Against the background of early modernism - a period that justified punishment by general deterrence - Kant is usually thought to represent a radical turn towards retributivism. For Kant, and later for Fichte and Hegel, a just punishment respects the humanity inherent in the criminal, and serves no external ends - it is instituted only because the criminal deserves it. In this original study, Jean-Christophe Merle uses close analysis of texts to show that these philosophers did not in fact hold a retributivist position, or even a mixed position; instead he traces in their work the gradual emergence of views in favour of deterrence and resocialisation. He also examines Nietzsche's view that morality rests on the rejection of retribution. His final chapter offers a challenge to the retributivist position, and a defence of resocialisation, in the context of current legal theory and practice concerning the punishment of crimes against humanity.

Item type:

eBooks

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Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Against the background of early modernism - a period that justified punishment by general deterrence - Kant is usually thought to represent a radical turn towards retributivism. For Kant, and later for Fichte and Hegel, a just punishment respects the humanity inherent in the criminal, and serves no external ends - it is instituted only because the criminal deserves it. In this original study, Jean-Christophe Merle uses close analysis of texts to show that these philosophers did not in fact hold a retributivist position, or even a mixed position; instead he traces in their work the gradual emergence of views in favour of deterrence and resocialisation. He also examines Nietzsche's view that morality rests on the rejection of retribution. His final chapter offers a challenge to the retributivist position, and a defence of resocialisation, in the context of current legal theory and practice concerning the punishment of crimes against humanity.