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Lex Talionis

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Encyclopedia of Law and Economics

Definition

The classical formulation of the view that the guilty must be punished in exact proportionate to their crimes: “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”

The lex talionis is otherwise known as the view that punishment for crimes must exact “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” It dates at least to the law of Moses and the Code of Hammurabi, and the general idea is cited in modern times by both scholars and laypeople in support of punishment that “fits the crime.” The lex talionis is sometimes used as a justification of retributivist punishment, which requires that the guilty receive their due punishment as a matter of right or justice, although it is less of a justification and more of a statement of the proper target of punishment (the guilty) and degree of punishment (proportionality).

The lex talionisis cited by key retributivists, including its leading proponent, Immanuel Kant, who asked “what kind and what amount of punishment is it that public justice makes its...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, College of Staten Island/CUNY, 2800 Victory Blvd, Staten Island, NY, 10314, USA

    Mark D. White

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  1. Mark D. White
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Correspondence to Mark D. White .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Lehrst. Finanzwissenschaft/ Finanzsoziologie, University of Erfurt, Erfurt, Thüringen, Germany

    Jürgen Backhaus

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© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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White, M.D. (2014). Lex Talionis. In: Backhaus, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Law and Economics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_18-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_18-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7883-6

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