Retributive Justice

Abstract

The topic of this chapter is the relationship between retributive justice and distributive justice. The author expounds his view that retributive justice should be noncomparative, and that the currency of retributive desert should be suffering. Some theories of distributive justice employ desert as a basis for distribution, whereas other theories of distributive justice do not. The author explains his belief that retributive justice relies on the notion of negative desert, but acknowledges that there are problems if not only negative desert is to be punished but positive desert is to be rewarded. The challenge is how to integrate retributive justice into the different theories of distributive justice.

Keywords: retributive justice, distributive justice, negative desert, positive desert, comparative justice, noncomparative justice

JEL Classification: K10