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It is said that retributive punishment is an expression of a misguided, sadistic sensibility—one that delights in controlling others, violating their human rights and making them suffer. When punishing someone, our sympathy is transformed into a shared feeling to perform acts of torture. We use the person who committed an immoral act or crime as a means to our pleasure

How do we justify such sadistic torture? Is it ever moral to make someone suffer? And why?

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    Everything up to the last sentence is a baseless accusation that assumes the answer to the question. In any case, there are plenty of places you can go where no governing authority provides a reliable threat of retribution - probably within a few miles of your home, in fact. Just wander around at night until somebody mugs you, and you'll know you've found utopia.
    – g s
    Commented Aug 13, 2023 at 22:23
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    Does this answer your question? What are the arguments for revenge and retribution?
    – David Gudeman
    Commented Aug 13, 2023 at 23:03
  • Are you familiar with the concept of loaded question? One example is "do you still beat your wife?", your post is another, and those are off-topic here. In the unlikely case that you are interested in the actual ethics of the practice you already pre-branded as misguided and sadistic, here is SEP, Retributive Justice.
    – Conifold
    Commented Aug 14, 2023 at 7:00

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When a maniac who killed and raped is put into jail where he definitely suffers I don't enjoy the fact of his suffering (though someone can) but I am glad he is not roaming the streets of my town. Moreover if he suffers there because the law is violated (like prison rules) I won't be glad cause it means there is corruption in law enforcement and tomorrow I or my close friends may suffer from it as well in another situation.

Unfortunately the science is still not at that point when you can reprogram the brain of a dangerous criminal. So the society protects itself by isolating him/her. What do you offer to do instead?

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  • "One bad turn deserves another. So does a good turn." -Aristotle? This is just like the Tit For Tat strategy in Game Theory, which worked out to be the only stable method of cooperation. It is basically a Law.
    – Scott Rowe
    Commented Aug 13, 2023 at 22:49

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