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%DUTY TO PUNISH 790930
Moralists feel a duty to punish those who
violate their moral code. They fear that if they do not
punish immoral persons, they will themselves be punished
for tolerating immorality. They punish, not because they
are harmed, but because they fear they will be harmed by
more dedicated moralists. They do not punish those who
have harmed or might harm them, but those who violate the
moralists' taboos. It is the more dedicated moralists who
might harm them, but they are not punished. Usually it is
the immoral person who has not harmed the moralist, whom
the moralist punishes, in order to avoid the punishment of
the other moralists. The moralists are maintaining a
collusion at the expense of those who violate their moral
injunctions. The moralists will not tolerate an unbiased
experimental test to see if there is basis in experience
for their moral injunctions. They will not consult with
those who are most experienced in violating their
injunctions to gain their insights into the effects
of the injunctions and of violating the
injunctions. They are not interested in conducting a
factor analysis of the various factors which contribute to
the negative effects of violating their injunctions; e.g.,
the effects of excommunicating immoral persons as a
contributing factor.
Moralists in part recognize the problems
occasioned by their sense of duty to punish. They seek to
deal with them by adherence to just procedures in deciding
which people are to punished. They acknowledge that it is
wrong to punish someone is not guilty of violating their
moral code. They do not acknowledge that it is unloving
to punish others out of a fear that self-appointed
maintainers of moral standards might punish those who fail
to punish. Moralists who are motivated by fear are not
lovers. They are trying to cope with the threat of
violence at the hands of other moralists.
It is not easy to distinguish between
vindictive punishment which is motivated by a revengeful
desire to "get even" and actions motivated by a desire to
minimize further destructive actions on the part of the
person who is constrained. Human vengeance is not
helpful. Human constraints upon irresponsible persons may
be helpful. It takes a wise person to know the
difference.
(c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in
www.essayz.com Search for Integrity and Honesty
(On Being Yourself, Whole and Healthy)
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