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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 should not be understood as intended to inflict pain or suffering.

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

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Saying punishment is intended to inflict pain or suffering suggests that what matters is pain or suffering as such.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.The suggestion that what matters is pain or suffering as such invites the criticism that neither we nor the state should be in the business of trying to inflict pain or suffering on people.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Some penal theorists reject the characterization of punishment as intended to inflict pain or suffering as a distortion.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Antony Duff's communicative theory holds that punishment aims to censure wrongdoing and induce moral recognition, not to cause suffering.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Pain or suffering, if it occurs in punishment, is a foreseen side-effect of hard treatment, not its defining purpose or intention.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.An account that makes suffering the aim rather than the medium of punishment cannot distinguish legitimate censure from mere cruelty or revenge.
      ?

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    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Herbert Hart distinguished the 'general justifying aim' of punishment from its definition, allowing deterrence or reform—not suffering—to be its telos.
      ?

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    • 2.If inflicting pain were the intention, then painless or even pleasant punishments would be conceptually incoherent, yet community service and fines are paradigm cases of valid punishment.
      ?

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