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Politics : Libertarian Discussion Forum
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To: Richard Babusek who wrote (2682)5/9/1999 3:46:00 AM
From: Dave Reed  Read Replies (1) of 13056
 
One thing I should say (since this is the libertarian
discussion forum) is that my statements about the role
of punishment were personal in nature and have nothing
to do with libertarian philosophy. Not that anything
I say should ever be taken as representing an official
libertarian position anyway.

I was talking about punishment and its purpose. Neocon
(and perhaps Barb although I'm not sure) feel that
punishment should in part be based on restoring a moral
balance or to mete out retribution. I personally am more
interested in a tolerant and peaceful society than I am
in a "just" society. If you are a Christian, you may
believe that justice belongs to God, not to man. I'm
not sure if I believe that God hands out justice in the
afterlife (he sure as heck doesn't in this life) but I
don't believe that humans are wise enough to pass moral
judgement on each other. We certainly can and should do
our best to provide restitution to the victims and to
protect ourselves from those who cannot or will not
control their own behavior. That at least is the role
of the justice system to me.

As I mentioned, I've been thinking over this issue for a
long time and I'm still not fully comfortable with my
own answer. I reserve the right to change my opinion!
Maybe you or others on this board will make an argument
that helps to clarify this issue for me.

When I said morality was outside the scope of government,
I meant that government should have no role in creating or
enforcing a code of moral behavior. I certainly didn't
mean to imply that morality had no role to play in
determining our philosophy or what the proper sphere of
government should be. There are both moral and practical
arguments for libertarianism. Depending on my mood, I
sometimes try to make the moral case and other times the
practical one.

Off topic but maybe something interesting to think about:
If you believe that our sense of morality has evolved just
like any other human attribute, then it makes sense that
what we perceive as moral is also what leads to the
best practical result.

Dave
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