P.F. Strawon on punishment and the hypothesis of symbolic retribution
How could punishment be justified? In this article, we sketch an answer to that question inspired by P. F. Strawson’s article ‘Freedom and Resentment’. We have two objectives. First, we aim to elucidate Strawson’s remarks about punishment, in particular those concerning the link between punishment and the reactive attitudes. These remarks suggest the possibility of a justification that takes our moral emotions seriously and could be labeled ‘retributive’, while avoiding associations of that term with revenge and cruelty. Second, we explore and develop that possibility in a way that is compatible with Strawson’s ideas. We submit that punishment is a symbolic and expressive reaction to crime, which can only be justified if it is imposed on a responsible wrongdoer by a community acting as a community, and out of respect for the victim, in response to the transgression of common rules.