Maverick Philosopher

Footnotes to Plato from the foothills of the Superstition Mountains

Category: Crime and Punishment

  • Kant on Capital Punishment

    Justice demands capital punishment in certain cases, and it doesn't matter what it costs, or whether there is any benefit to society, or even whether there is any society to benefit. Recall Kant's last man scenario from Metaphysics of Morals, Part II (emphasis added): [6] But whoever has committed murder, must die. There is, in this case, no juridical…

  • What to Do if a Cop Stops You

    The following advice can save your life, especially if you are an impulsive black not brought up to respect legitimate authority. And yes, the authority of the police is legitimate even if the particular cop you encounter is an arrogant asshole as some of them are. Pull over when it is safe to do so.…

  • Another Reason Why Defunding the Police is Idiotic

    Government is by its very nature coercive. To be effective, it has to have the power to force people to do what they might not want to do, and to refrain from doing what they might want to do, such as drive drunk, loot, and rape. It follows straightaway that eliminating enforcement agencies eliminates government.…

  • Presentism, Punishment, and the Past

    One man steals from another. The thief is caught, the thievery is proven, and the penalty required by law is demanded.  It turns out that the thief's attorney is a philosophy Ph.D., a presentist in the philosophy of time, who could not find a job in academe. So he went to law school, and here…

  • Christianity has Civilized Us. But Islam?

    Has Islam played any role in the civilizing of the peoples in the lands where it has held sway? Yes, of course. But when we consider Islamic penology, it is positively barbaric compared to that of the West.  Of the five great religions, Islam seems to have had the least civilizing effect.  Here: Iran’s judicial…

  • Self-Defense Shootings in Times of Turbulence

    Governments that favor criminals over the law-abiding cause the latter to look to their own defense, often with tragic results.  Massad Ayoob offers sage advice for citizens who plan to arm themselves. On matters of personal defense and the use of firearms, Ayoob is a reliable and recognized authority. Ayoob has made a number of…

  • Which is Worse? Crime or ‘Racism’?

    'Racism' obviously. Take a stand against 'racism' and vote Democratic!   This short video demonstrates that crime is no big deal.

  • Is There Such a Thing as Racial Profiling?

    A re-post from 5 December 2014 …………………………… One of the tactics of leftists is to manipulate and misuse language for their own purposes.  Thus they make up words and phrases and hijack existing ones. 'Islamophobe' is an example of the former, 'disenfranchise' an example of the latter.    'Racial profiling' is a second example of the…

  • The ‘Progressive’

    A typical 'progressive' will insist that the law-abiding citizen exercising his constitutionally protected (not constitutionally conferred) right to keep and bear arms has no need of weapons since it is the job of the police to protect the citizenry against the criminal element. At the same time, this  'progressive' works to undermine the police and…

  • Cops: A Necessary Evil

    I don't much like law enforcement agents (qua law enforcement agents) and I try to avoid contact with them, not because I violate laws or have something to hide, but because I understand human nature, and I understand how power corrupts people, not inevitably, but predictably. Cops and sheriffs are too often arrogant, disrespectful, and willing…

  • The Rosenbergs: Still Guilty After All These Years

    On this date in 1953, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were put to death as atomic spies for the Soviet Union.  They were most certainly guilty as we now know. But no amount of proof of their guilt will stop the Left from lying about them as victims of  American 'fascism.' In those days we weren't…

  • Should Felons Have the Right to Vote?

    Bernie Sanders thinks that felons should have the right to vote even while incarcerated.  That is a foolish and irresponsible view. 1) Felons have shown by their destructive behavior that they cannot productively order their own lives. Why then should they have any say in the ordering of society?  Why should the thoughtful vote of…

  • Absurdistan: The Cross of Christ is Supposed to be an Argument against the Death Penalty!

    From a German correspondent I learned about the theology blog Nachtgedanken, Night Thoughts. I agree entirely with the current post which begins: "In der Karfreitagspredigt sagt Bischof Ulrich Neymeyr: "Der Justizirrtum, dem auch Jesus zum Opfer gefallen ist, ist eines der schlagkräftigen Argumente gegen die Todesstrafe". Tagespost 19.4.2019.   Diese bischöfliche Aussage evoziert eine Frage:…

  • Capital Punishment is Indeed a Deterrent

    Joseph M. Bessette in the Wall Street Journal: Consider this example that the philosopher Edward Feser and I recount in our book, By Man Shall His Blood Be Shed: A Catholic Defense of Capital Punishment: At a professional conference, a criminologist reported that two burglars had broken into his mother’s apartment and tied her up…

  • A Note on Beccaria and Kant on Capital Punishment

    Here: According to [Cesare] Beccaria, punishment has two fundamental objectives: to restrain the criminal from committing additional crimes and to deter other members of society from committing the same crime. The first purpose is served by imprisonment, so we are left with the issue of deterrence. Not so fast! Imprisonment obviously does not prevent criminals…