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It is not the case that A punishment framework requiring no ongoing choice collapses the distinction between retributive justice and mere causally determined suffering.
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Reasons For
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Reason for
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1.
Retributive justice can be justified by past wrongdoing alone, not present choices; backward-looking desert doesn't require ongoing agency.
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2.
Causally determined suffering and punishment can differ in their formal structure, rules, and social meaning regardless of metaphysical freedom.
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3.
The distinction may rest on institutional practices and intentions rather than the metaphysical nature of the person being punished.
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Reasons Against
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Reason against
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1.
Justice requires moral agency: punishment presupposes the punished could have chosen differently, distinguishing it from mere harm.
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2.
Without ongoing choice, punishment becomes mechanical consequence—indistinguishable from natural causation or accident outcomes.
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3.
Retributive justice depends on holding agents responsible, which requires their choices to matter; predetermined suffering removes this.
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