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    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Home/Original/inverse
    See Original
    Inverse View

    It is not the case that Punishment of wrongdoers is justified by the moral desert of the offender.

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Desert claims require a robust notion of free will that is undermined by deterministic causal accounts of human behavior.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.If an offender's wrongful act is the product of factors beyond their control, the moral basis for desert collapses.
      ?

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    • 3.Neuroscientific and social-scientific evidence increasingly supports causal explanations that erode the control required for genuine desert.
      ?

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    Reason for 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Rawls argued that natural talents and social circumstances are morally arbitrary, and character is shaped by both.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.If an agent's disposition to offend is substantially constituted by morally arbitrary factors, punishing them for acting on that disposition cannot be justified by desert alone.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.A just institutional practice must be justified by its forward-looking effects on social cooperation, not backward-looking metaphysical desert.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • Wrongdoers morally deserve punishment for their wrongful acts.
      ?

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    Strongest counterpoint
    Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.