Should People be Punished Discussion

Punishment belongs to one of numerous controversial philosophical issues since different thinkers do not share some single opinion on this problem. Since punishment always supposes restricting freedom of an individual or even depriving him or her of certain rights (including even the right to life), it is not surprising that philosophical views on the concept of punishment are diverse. Many famous philosophers promoted respect for human freedom and, thus, could not help but notice that any punishment can be carried out even against the offender's will. Therefore, there was an obvious necessity to resolve the conflict between the punishment and human freedom. Although, any punishment harms human rights and interests and, as a result, cannot be regarded as a normal and desirable form of interaction between people, punishment is essential when people guiltily commit acts that harm society or endanger rights of other people because that is the only way to ensure the stability of society.

Certainly, no one can deny that any punishment is a serious restriction of human freedom and in such a way contradicts the principles, according to which society must protect freedom. For example, Kant believed that all human choices and actions are to be consistent with certain underlying principles (maxims), noticing that only such a principle that could serve as a universal law should be followed (Kant). Consequently, only actions that do not harm people are morally acceptable since society would not be able to function properly if, for example, sending people to prison became a universal law. While Mill was not a strong supporter of strict underlying moral principles offered by Kant, he also believed in the necessity to establish such moral rul...

... middle of paper ...

...acts still recognized the necessity of punishment. Their observations do not seem surprising, considering that there still is no alternative to punishment. Refusal from punishment only will encourage criminals to continue committing wrongdoings, resulting in violation of human rights and basic principles declared by many ethical principles, including utilitarianism, Kantian ethics or the “Golden Rule”, for example. However, punishment only should applied towards people who committed some wrongdoing and are guilty because otherwise punishment will stop being “ethical”.

Works Cited

Kant, Immanuel. Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. Trans. Thomas Kingsmill Abbot. gutenberg.org, Web. 18 Mar. 2014.

Mill, John Stuart. “On Liberty.” Harvard Classics, vol. 25. P. F. Collier & Son, 1909. The University of Adelaide, 7 Mar. 2014. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.