Kant and the Morality of Anger Essay example -- Philosophy Papers

Kant and the Morality of Anger Introduction This essay does not comprise a defence of retributive penalisation, neither does it imply a rejection of deterrent punishment. The writer suggests that one possible reason for the tendency to assist punishment of offenders with ever increasing severity can be discovered in the concept of the morality of anger. It is this explanation of the phenomenon that forms the principal burden of the arguments used in this essay. The salient characteristics of the cardinal theories of punishment, which find expression in English law, will be found below 1. In the absence of any authorised public policy an unresolved tension exists, which derives from attempts made to reconcile the two theories, with some degree of balance, in sentencing practice. Actual sentences in the English courts atomic number 18 often a compromise between the demands of retribution and deterrence. Any suspicion that may exist about which surmise is being used, in item ci rcumstances, leads to actions which cannot be completely justified by either theory 2. detestation and Punishment in Kants Civil Society According to Kants moral theory an exacting principle of respect for humanity, in the form of the person, can be reconciled with the absolute necessity of punishment, because punishment, within a properly constituted civil society, is a legitimate and necessary response to crime punishment must comply with the moral law as a categorical exigent 3. Kants theory of retributive punishment is of particular importance, because it is one of the most transparent and consistent of the retributive theories, and has not lost its relevance in coetaneous discussions 4. Kants civil society rest securely on th... ...Foundation Course The up to(p) University 1986, Units 13-15 pp. 68-76 Feinberg, Joel Harmless Wrong Doing, The Moral Limits of the Criminal Law Oxford 1988, pp. 159-165 Guyer, Paul (Ed.) The Cambridge bloke to Kant Cambridge 1992, Essay 10, Autonomy, obligation and virtue An overview of Kants moral philosophy, pp.309-341, also Essay 11, Politics, license and order Kants political philosophy,, pp.342-366 Hoffe, Otfried Immanuel Kant New York 1994 Honderich, T Punishment, The Supposed Justifications Oxford 1989, pp. 208-237 Paton, H J The Categorical Imperative London 1947 Rawls, John A Theory of arbiter Oxford 1972 pp. 251-257 Singer, Peter A Companion to Ethics Oxford 1993 Essay 32, Crime and Punishment, C L Ten pp. 366-372 Sorell, Tom Moral Theory and Capital Punishment Oxford 1987 Walker, Nigel why Punish? Oxford 1991