Stathis Papaioannou wrote:
> 2009/9/5 Brent Meeker :
>
>
>>> http://www.edge.org/q2006/q06_9.html#dawkins
>>>
>> It seems foolish to beat Basil's car because (1) we know the beating
>> will not improve it's function and (2) we know that is must be possible
>> to fix it (since we built it in the first place). However neither of
>> these is true in the case of dealing with a person who has committed a
>> crime (I disdain the word "criminal" as if it were a separate species).
>> Such a person may be deterred from further crimes by some punishment and
>> more to the point other persons may be deterred by the example.
>> Furthermore we have no idea how to "fix" the person in a mechanistic way
>> - and if we did would it be ethical (c.f. "Clockwork Orange").
>>
>
> But there is a difference between punishment to serve some utilitarian
> end - reducing crime - and punishment as retribution.
>
Ironically, government punishment as retribution was adopted for the
utilitarian reason that it displaced private retribution which tended to
feuds. A desire for retribution is probably something that is built in
by evolution, but it is far less in some people than others.
> It's also interesting to consider what would happen if we could easily
> change people's character and motivations. Would it be better to
> forcibly change a violent psychopath's brain so that he becomes a nice
> person and thanks you for it afterwards, or would it be better to lock
> him up to prevent him re-offending
I'd say it depends of how anti-social the person's character and
motivations are and how precisely he could be changed. In the case of a
violent psychopath who has murdered someoen we, at present (in the
U.S.), can execute him - so it doesn't seem *less* ethical to change his
personality even drastically. On the other hand there's a slippery
slope here. If it's good to "cure" a violent psychopath is it also good
to "cure" a pedophile, a petty thief, an obnoxious liar, a
homosexual,...? Should a person be able to choose a "cure" for themselves?
Brent
--~--~-~--~~~---~--~~
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Everything List" group.
To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en
-~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
