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A History of Ideas: Lex Talionis and Retribution
Stephen Fry on Lex Talionis and Retribution
The Lex Talionis, or law of ‘an eye for an eye’, sounds brutal, but is it in fact a way of keeping retribution in proportion? By punishing no more than proportionally for a crime, do we effectively deter people from committing another. Or should deterrence far outweigh the crime in order to put people off committing it? Philosopher Jeremy Bentham thought not, believing that severe legal violence can incite, rather than deter crime.
Want to hear more on this topic?
Here’s the whole episode from A History of Ideas – Barrister Harry Potter on Deterrence
How can we protect individual freedom and ensure that Governments cannot hold people without charge?
The Lex Talionis, or law of ‘an eye for an eye’, sounds brutal, but is it in fact a way of keeping retribution in proportion?
What would be your blueprint for a just society? Would it simply reflect the needs of your current social position? But what if you drew up the blueprint for a society with no idea what position you might hold in it?
What do you do if your society has unjust laws? Simply put up with them? Start a revolution to smash the state? Philosopher Henry David Thoreau put forward the idea of civil disobedience to change unjust laws.