Consequentialism, Responsibility and Retribution: Comments on Victor Tadros’ Theory of Punishment

Abstract:     
This paper considers some of the arguments in Victor Tadros’ book on the moral justification of criminal punishment. While the final end of the book is a theory of punishment, it discusses along the way also general topics in moral and political philosophy and considers the analogy between punishment and defensive force. Therefore, the book is of interest not only to people who are interested in the justification of punishment, but also to those who are interested in ethical theory more generally. In what follows, I first describe, very briefly, the main arguments in the book and then consider a few aspects of some of these arguments.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 18

Keywords: Punishment, Justification, Consequentialism, Retribution, Responsibility, Self-Defense,

Accepted Paper Series