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Replacing punishment: the ethics of alternatives to legal punishment
The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze the morality of putative alternatives to punishment. I will explore what makes them non-punitive, define them, and analyze whether they can be justified. The structure of the dissertation is as follows. The first chapter investigates the concept of puni...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Philosophy
2015
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| _version_ | 1867613159353745408 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Gallagher, Scott |
| author2 | Benatar, David |
| author_browse | Benatar, David Gallagher, Scott |
| author_facet | Benatar, David Gallagher, Scott |
| author_sort | Gallagher, Scott |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze the morality of putative alternatives to punishment. I will explore what makes them non-punitive, define them, and analyze whether they can be justified. The structure of the dissertation is as follows. The first chapter investigates the concept of punishment. I will defend a definition of punishment: authorized, retributive, intended harm. Then I will proceed to explain the need to justify punishment, and give an overview of how it is at least plausible to believe that no justification has yet succeeded. I will end the chapter with a brief discussion of the requirements of a criminal justice system. The second chapter is about money. I will scrutinize whether the theory of 'pure restitution' may completely replace punishment. I will argue that it cannot, and furthermore I will caution against the widespread use of mandatory monetary restitution. I will also provide a positive argument for the state's duty to provide compensation to victims of violent crime. The third chapter brings in the true heavyweights for non-punitive interventions: offender rehabilitation and offender incapacitation. After defining them, explaining why they are non-punitive, and defending justifications for them, I will conclude that they provide the most substantive opportunities for the state to shift its criminal justice burden s away from punishment. In the fourth chapter I will explore rituals: restorative justice conferences, trial and therapeutic jurisprudence, re-entry ceremonies and apologies. My argument for a minimally punitive regime will come together in the last chapter. In doing so I will explain why a state must rely on punishment to a small but crucial extent, and that punishment can be minimized drastically in comparison to today's practices. I will also address concerns regarding security and deterrence. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/14079 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:31:43.046Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publishDateRange | 2015 |
| publishDateSort | 2015 |
| publisher | Department of Philosophy |
| publisherStr | Department of Philosophy |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/14079 Replacing punishment: the ethics of alternatives to legal punishment Gallagher, Scott Benatar, David Philosophy The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze the morality of putative alternatives to punishment. I will explore what makes them non-punitive, define them, and analyze whether they can be justified. The structure of the dissertation is as follows. The first chapter investigates the concept of punishment. I will defend a definition of punishment: authorized, retributive, intended harm. Then I will proceed to explain the need to justify punishment, and give an overview of how it is at least plausible to believe that no justification has yet succeeded. I will end the chapter with a brief discussion of the requirements of a criminal justice system. The second chapter is about money. I will scrutinize whether the theory of 'pure restitution' may completely replace punishment. I will argue that it cannot, and furthermore I will caution against the widespread use of mandatory monetary restitution. I will also provide a positive argument for the state's duty to provide compensation to victims of violent crime. The third chapter brings in the true heavyweights for non-punitive interventions: offender rehabilitation and offender incapacitation. After defining them, explaining why they are non-punitive, and defending justifications for them, I will conclude that they provide the most substantive opportunities for the state to shift its criminal justice burden s away from punishment. In the fourth chapter I will explore rituals: restorative justice conferences, trial and therapeutic jurisprudence, re-entry ceremonies and apologies. My argument for a minimally punitive regime will come together in the last chapter. In doing so I will explain why a state must rely on punishment to a small but crucial extent, and that punishment can be minimized drastically in comparison to today's practices. I will also address concerns regarding security and deterrence. 2015-09-25T07:18:58Z 2015-09-25T07:18:58Z 2013 Master Thesis Masters MA http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14079 eng application/pdf Department of Philosophy Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Philosophy Gallagher, Scott Replacing punishment: the ethics of alternatives to legal punishment |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Replacing punishment: the ethics of alternatives to legal punishment |
| title_full | Replacing punishment: the ethics of alternatives to legal punishment |
| title_fullStr | Replacing punishment: the ethics of alternatives to legal punishment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Replacing punishment: the ethics of alternatives to legal punishment |
| title_short | Replacing punishment: the ethics of alternatives to legal punishment |
| title_sort | replacing punishment the ethics of alternatives to legal punishment |
| topic | Philosophy |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14079 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT gallagherscott replacingpunishmenttheethicsofalternativestolegalpunishment |