Rational Critique of Punishment: Reflections on the Justification of Punishment

Author: Qiu Xinglong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1999-01-01
Features: This book is a highly academically valuable monograph that takes a comprehensive reflection on the justification of punishment as its theme. It is another major work in penal philosophy by the author, following "Introduction to the Rationality of Punishment," which employs logical deduction as its primary research method. In the book, the author adopts a brand-new rational segmentation method, dividing the history of criminal evolution into five stages: retaliation, deterrence, equivalence, correction, and compromise. Using the standard of the proposed theory of the unity of penal rationality, he conducts separate reflections on these five forms of criminal evolution, identifying their strengths and weaknesses. This leads to an overall dynamic reflection on the history of criminal evolution, revealing its evolutionary trends. On this basis, the author concludes that the main driver of criminal evolution is humanity's continuous understanding and pursuit of penal rationality, thereby refuting the "theory of stage struggle determinism." Subsequently, the author, grounded in the theory of the unity of penal rationality, conducts a comprehensive and profound rational reflection on China's current legislation and judicial practices regarding criminal sentencing, sentencing, sentencing allocation, and sentencing execution, revealing their respective