A review of Placing Blame: A General Theory of Criminal Law

Human Nature Review 2003 Volume 3: 466-479 ( 17 November )
Against Retribution by Thomas W. Clark
A review of Placing Blame: A General Theory of Criminal Law by Michael Moore

Intuitively, naturalism undercuts retributive attitudes by showing that the
causal story behind crime involves numerous factors outside the individual.
Although Michael Moore is entirely naturalistic in his understanding of
human behavior, he thinks any mitigation of retributive judgments is
unwarranted: retribution is an intrinsic good, and we should discard our
sympathies for disadvantaged offenders as "moral hallucinations." I make the
case that such sympathies are not misplaced, but reflect the fact that our
dispositions to punish and withhold punishment track causality itself. When
we understand the external factors that shaped the offender, retributive
rage diminishes in favor of a determination to address these factors. It is
only by ignoring the functional, forward-looking nature of morality that
Moore can portray retribution as an intrinsic good and the reigning moral
principle of criminal justice. Since the natural purpose of morality,
including the retributive impulse, is to shape behavior advantageously, we
can and should consider other more efficient and less punitive means to
achieve the ends that retribution originally served. This suggests the aims
of criminal justice might change under pressure from a thorough-going
naturalism.

http://human-nature.com/nibbs/03/twclark.html
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Dr. D. Chevalier, IPC, CPPP, ACOFEI
Executive Director -Behavioral Sciences Unit
The Consortium of Scientific Investigation and Research
Member- American College of Forensic Examiniers International
Investigative Psychology
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