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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
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    If retribution requires external grounding, so does any f... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→Retributive justice must ultimately be justified in a larger moral context that shows it is plausibly grounded in, or at least connected to, other deeply held moral principles.

    If retribution requires external grounding, so does any foundational moral principle, collapsing into infinite regress or arbitrary stopping points.

    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

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    Reason for
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    • 1.All justifications ultimately rest on unprovable assumptions; retribution's need for grounding merely makes explicit what all moral systems presuppose.
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    • 2.Without external grounding, retribution becomes arbitrary preference; the same problem applies to utilitarian or deontological foundations equally.
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    • 3.Infinite regress is unavoidable in any foundational system; accepting this shows retribution has no special vulnerability compared to alternatives.
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    Reasons Against

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    Reason against
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    • 1.Foundational principles needn't require external grounding; they can be self-justifying through coherence or self-evidence within a framework.
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    • 2.Retribution differs from other principles: it requires justifying *harm* specifically, which carries higher epistemic burden than other moral claims.
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    • 3.Some frameworks (contractarian, constructivist) ground morality internally through rational procedures, avoiding infinite regress without arbitrary stopping points.
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    Connections

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    Justice & Punishment1 linked

    Related

    All justifications ultimately rest on unprovable assumptions; retribution's need...Foundational principles needn't require external grounding; they can be self-jus...Infinite regress is unavoidable in any foundational system; accepting this shows...Retribution differs from other principles: it requires justifying *harm* specifi...
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    Retributive justice must ultimately be justified in a larger moral context that ...Some frameworks (contractarian, constructivist) ground morality internally throu...Without external grounding, retribution becomes arbitrary preference; the same p...

    Details

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    claim
    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
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