Supplementing with a theoretical justification tied to more general principles of justice would help dispel doubts that retributive intuitions are the crabbed judgments of a squinty, vengeful, or cruel soul.
principles of justice(Rawls's justice as fairness)
Principles guaranteeing that, regardless of social position, one has the rights and resources needed to maintain valued commitments, exercise rational and moral deliberation, and sustain self-respect as an equal citizen.
The point is not to say that this first justificatory strategy fails. It is to say that it does not obviously succeed. The notion of retributive justice would be on sounder footing if this justification were supplemented by a theoretical justification for punitive hard treatment that ties it to a more general set of principles of justice. Doing so would help dispel doubts that retributive intuitions are the crabbed judgments of a squinty, vengeful, or cruel soul.