A Criticism of Retributivism: Identifying the Unavoidable and Undesirable Consequences of Accepting of Not Accepting “Ought Implies Can”

Author

Samantha BloomfieldFollow

Graduation Year

2022

Document Type

Open Access Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Philosophy

Reader 1

Dion Scott-Kakures

Reader 2

Yuval Avnur

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Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Rights Information

© 2022 Samantha C Bloomfield

Abstract

Retributivism makes two claims: the guilty deserve to be punished in proportion to their culpability, and the innocent deserve not to be punished. Through a discussion of our ineliminable susceptibility to luck, our inability to avoid epistemic fallibility, and the implications of either accepting or not accepting Ought Implies Can, I aim to identify retributivism as an inept moral theory.

Recommended Citation

Bloomfield, Samantha, "A Criticism of Retributivism: Identifying the Unavoidable and Undesirable Consequences of Accepting of Not Accepting “Ought Implies Can”" (2022). Scripps Senior Theses. 1854.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/1854