The Limits of Blame

Download or Read eBook The Limits of Blame PDF written by Erin I. Kelly and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2018-11-12 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle.
The Limits of Blame
Author :
Publisher : Harvard University Press
Total Pages : 241
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780674989412
ISBN-13 : 0674989414
Rating : 4/5 (12 Downloads)

Book Synopsis The Limits of Blame by : Erin I. Kelly

Book excerpt: Faith in the power and righteousness of retribution has taken over the American criminal justice system. Approaching punishment and responsibility from a philosophical perspective, Erin Kelly challenges the moralism behind harsh treatment of criminal offenders and calls into question our society’s commitment to mass incarceration. The Limits of Blame takes issue with a criminal justice system that aligns legal criteria of guilt with moral criteria of blameworthiness. Many incarcerated people do not meet the criteria of blameworthiness, even when they are guilty of crimes. Kelly underscores the problems of exaggerating what criminal guilt indicates, particularly when it is tied to the illusion that we know how long and in what ways criminals should suffer. Our practice of assigning blame has gone beyond a pragmatic need for protection and a moral need to repudiate harmful acts publicly. It represents a desire for retribution that normalizes excessive punishment. Appreciating the limits of moral blame critically undermines a commonplace rationale for long and brutal punishment practices. Kelly proposes that we abandon our culture of blame and aim at reducing serious crime rather than imposing retribution. Were we to refocus our perspective to fit the relevant moral circumstances and legal criteria, we could endorse a humane, appropriately limited, and more productive approach to criminal justice.


The Limits of Blame Related Books

The Limits of Blame
Language: en
Pages: 241
Authors: Erin I. Kelly
Categories: Philosophy
Type: BOOK - Published: 2018-11-12 - Publisher: Harvard University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Faith in the power and righteousness of retribution has taken over the American criminal justice system. Approaching punishment and responsibility from a philos
The Limits of Blame
Language: en
Pages: 241
Authors: Erin I. Kelly
Categories: Philosophy
Type: BOOK - Published: 2018-11-12 - Publisher: Harvard University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Faith in the power and righteousness of retribution has taken over the American criminal justice system. Approaching punishment and responsibility from a philos
The Limits of Blame
Language: en
Pages:
Authors: Erin Kelly
Categories: SOCIAL SCIENCE
Type: BOOK - Published: 2018 - Publisher:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Faith in the power and righteousness of retribution has taken over the American criminal justice system. Approaching punishment and responsibility from a philos
The Limits of Moral Obligation
Language: en
Pages: 220
Authors: Marcel van Ackeren
Categories: Philosophy
Type: BOOK - Published: 2015-09-16 - Publisher: Routledge

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This volume responds to the growing interest in finding explanations for why moral claims may lose their validity based on what they ask of their addressees. Tw
From Morality to Law and Back Again
Language: en
Pages: 305
Authors: Michelle Madden Dempsey
Categories: Law
Type: BOOK - Published: 2023-07-18 - Publisher: Oxford University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

John Gardner was one of the most prolific, widely read, and influential scholars working in philosophy of law. This book celebrates, explores, and develops them