moral dimensions of punishment

Running Head : Moral dimensions of punishment

Moral dimensions of punishment

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Moral dimensions of punishment

Moral and political theory , that is , should perceive itself as articulating how it is possible for inquirers , immersed as they are in the contingent contexts of their lives and circumstances (Barcan-Marcus , 1980 ) to work out for themselves the details about what is right and wrong . As inquirers we proceed as best we can in the situations in which we find ourselves and which

we create for ourselves guided by the thought that experience is the key to truth , knowledge and objectivity . As Dewey stressed , the pragmatist must see morality and politics as problem-driven , and those problems will vary as social practices , systems of domination and oppression , the religious makeup of a population , and a host of other circumstances vary

There are many laws that regulate the publication and dissemination of pornography however , they take what some might term a rather permissive attitude toward consensual sexual activity between adults . Since this is an area in which morality law differs quite considerably in the United States and Europe

Included in the subcategory of offenses against morality are drug and consensual sex offenses . The English have a framework of laws classifying drugs into different categories and proscribing their unlawful importation , production , and possession . Although the English do permit heroin to be supplied to registered addicts , this is done far less frequently than might be envisaged

Durkheim was one of the leading thinkers in this regard . In looking at the nature of modern industrial society , Durkheim focused on the moral basis of social and stability - the basis of what he termed social solidarity . He argued that without the regulation of society individuals would attempt to satisfy their own desires and wishes without regard to their fellows . This societal regulation had , he believed , to be based on a set of shared values and a working society required that the individuals within it accepted these common values Durkheim called this common set of values the collective conscience which he defined as 'the average citizens of the same society

.Crime is , then , necessary it is bound up with the fundamental conditions of all social life , and by that very fact it is useful because these conditions of which it is a part are themselves indispensable to the normal evolution of morality and law (Crain 1985

The existence of social morality and social solidarity makes punishment inevitable and necessary , in that it reaffirms and strengthens the moral and social bonds . Of course , punishment is not the only process that does this religion , education and family life all help to strengthen the collective conscience and to promote social cohesion

Punishment has to be seen as a very important means of reinforcing moral and social in less complex societies with a less developed division of labour . However , while methods of punishment change over time , the essential functions of punishment...