Introduction

Few social problems today seem to cause as much dissension among people as the problem of punishment. As crime rates soar in various countries around the world such as the United States of America, some of the republics of the former Soviet Union, Brasil, Colombia, the United States of Mexico, and the United Kingdom, reports of violent crimes have become commonplace. What shouldbe done in order to solve the problems associated with crime? A comprehensive answer to this question is not offered in this book. For such an answer would not only involve providing answers to an array of sociological and psychological questions about human behavior and motivation, and how to counter-balance the myriad of motives concerning why criminals commit wrongful deeds, but it would entail a plausible theory of how we ought to act, and why, so that crimes can be effectively minimized. These and other queries concerning the solution to the problem of crime are beyond the scope of this book. Rather, this book is primarily concerned with some of the problems of responsibility and punishment, and it makes no pretensions as to how the problems of crime ought to be solved.1 Since crime is a fact of life in every sizeable society, this project takes on the task of analyzing philosophically the natures and justifications of responsibility and punishment. For if the problem of crime itself cannot be solved, the least we owe ourselves is a proper understanding of how best to respond to some crimes, and plausible reasons why punishment is either justified or obligatory to the extent that it is inflicted on responsible agents.