Author: Dr. Crispin Sartwell
Series: The Morality in Our Age Series
Narrator: Cliff Robertson and Robert Guillaume
Unabridged: 2 hr 50 min
Format: Digital Audiobook
Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
Published: 02/21/2006
Genre: History
Punishment is a harm or deprivation, imposed by a legitimate authority, based on a legitimate conviction of wrongdoing. In assessing guilt, considerations of intention, action and results are all relevant. Any understanding of punishment depends heavily on our interpretation of both authority and responsibility. Paternalism is one set of beliefs about who should have authority; it obviously has been applied within the family, and it has a highly controversial application in government. The authority of law and the state is a topic of philosophical interest extending at least back to Socrates. The way one understands the role and power of the state in turn depends on assumptions about human nature. The philosopher Thomas Hobbes emphasized the benefits of a common power, based on the view that mankind is naturally warlike, acquisitive, and egoistic. By contrast, John Locke emphasized the benefits of liberty, based on the view that people are naturally free and equal, forming governments only for the purpose of protecting life and property. Criminal responsibility requires that a person be able to freely conform his conduct to law. An act is excused if the perpetrator did not act voluntarily (e.g. due to insanity); it is justified if there was good reason to voluntarily commit the act. Assigning criminal responsiblity is one of the most difficult and immediate problems in any criminal justice system. Controversy continues today between corporal punishment, imprisonment and capital punishment. Society questions if any of these methods offer retribution for the crime committed.
Plague has terrified and fascinated humanity for all of recorded history. Now, in the current moment of COVID-19, people around the globe are again struggling to learn how to navigate life during a pandemic. As in times of uncertainty throughout his...
No civilization is so intertwined with the history of Christianity, and the greater Western world, as Rome. Now, you are invited to explore ancient Rome’s legacy with award-winning professor and prolific author Christopher M. Bellitto. In this...
Join award-winning historian Christopher Bellitto on this gripping journey through centuries of Greek history. Ancient Greece was one of the most fertile civilizations in history, and its influence on Western philosophy, theology, and civilization ...
Much can be said for a nation as proud and ancient as Wales. It is a nation that reaches far back into the shadows of history, from where it struggled to retain its freedom and proud culture. Of Celtic and Brittonic origins, the Welsh people were al...
Join the acclaimed authors of the encyclopedia of conspiracy theories in exploring some of history's great myths.In this provocative audio course, you’ll travel through time with history and medieval literature experts to learn why the truth a...
About empty thrones, a lot can be said. Throughout history, both ancient and near modern, a lack of an heir and the sudden death of a beloved monarch always meant trouble. When the position of a king is up for grabs, a lot of eager hands come forwar...
Explore the captivating contradictions of one of U.S. history’s most divisive figures with the celebrated West Point professor and author of Confounding Father: Thomas Jefferson’s Image in His Own Time.Thomas Jefferson was the first secr...
Examine the profound impact of the Crusades with acclaimed Church historian and bestselling author Christopher Bellitto. Few events have affected the course of civilization as profoundly as the Crusades, a centuries-long period of violent...
The American Revolutionary War has inspired bestselling books, iconic paintings, and hit Broadway musicals. More than 250 years after the “shot heard around the world” was fired in Concord, we remain fascinated by the causes and legacy o...