Corporal Punishment: A Philosophical Assessment

Description

The aim of this book is to assess the moral permissibility of corporal punishment and to enquire into whether or not it ought to be legally prohibited. Against the widespread view that corporal punishment is morally legitimate and should be legally permitted provided it falls short of abuse, Patrick Lenta argues that all corporal punishment, even parental spanking, is morally impermissible and ought to be legally proscribed. The advantages claimed for corporal punishment over alternative disciplinary techniques, he contends, are slight or speculative and are far outweighed by its disadvantages. He presents, in addition, a rights-based case against corporal punishment, arguing that children possess certain fundamental rights that all corporal punishment of them violates, namely the right to security of the person and the right not to be subjected to degrading punishment. Lenta’s approach is unique in that it engages with empirical literature in the social sciences in order to fully examine the emotional and psychological effects of corporal punishment on children. Corporal Punishment: A Philosophical Assessment is a philosophically rigorous and engaging treatment of a hitherto neglected topic in applied ethics and social philosophy. Cover Title Copyright Dedication Contents Preface and Acknowledgements 1 Introduction 1.1 Corporal Punishment and the Philosophers 1.2 Distinguishing Corporal Punishment 1.3 An Outline of the Argument 2 The Benefits and Costs of Corporal Punishment 2.1 Can Retributivism Vindicate Corporal Punishment? 2.2 The Supposed Benefits of Corporal Punishment 2.2.1 Moral Education 2.2.2 Obedience-eliciting 2.2.3 Deterrence 2.2.4 Further Putative Benefits 2.3 The Costs of Corporal Punishment 2.3.1 Fewer Opportunities for Repentance-inducing Reflection 2.3.2 Anxiety and Fear 2.3.3 The Risk of Serious Psychological Harm 2.3.4 The Potential for Excessive Severity and Physical Abuse 2.3.5 Teaching the Wrong Lesson About Violence 2.3.6 Does Parental Love Moderate Harmful Effects? 2.4 A Final Response to Obdurate Defenders 3 Children’s Rights and Security of the Person 3.1 The Rights Engaged by Corporal Punishment 3.2 Do Children Have the Rights in Question? 3.3 The Right to Security of the Person 3.3.1 Normatively Neutral Definitions of Violence 3.3.2 Legitimist Definitions of Violence 3.3.3 Corporal Punishment Is Violent 4 Is Corporal Punishment Degrading, Cruel or Torturous? 4.1 The Right to Protection Against Degrading Punishment 4.1.1 Preliminary Reflections on Degrading Punishments 4.1.2 How Corporal Punishment Degrades 4.1.3 A Reply to Objections 4.2 The Right to Protection Against Cruel Punishment 4.2.2 What Are Cruel Punishments? 4.2.3 Is Corporal Punishment Cruel? 4.3 The Right to Protection Against Torturous Punishment 4.3.1 The Difficulty of Distinguishing Corporal Punishment from Torture 4.3.2 Not All Corporal Punishment Is Torturous 4.3.3 What’s Especially Wrong with Torturing Children? 4.4 Forfeiture, Waiver and Moral Optimality 5 Ought Corporal Punishment to Be Criminalized? 5.1 The Case for Criminalization 5.1.1 Wrongfulness, Harm and Risk 5.1.2 The Vagueness of Legal Authorisations 5.1.3 Failure to Criminalize Is Unfairly Discriminatory 5.1.4 The Likely Efficacy of Criminalization 5.1.5 A Legal Obligation to Criminalize 5.1.6 Popular Support, Democratic Legitimacy and Justice 5.2 The Case Against Criminalization 5.2.1 Criminalization’s Restriction of Liberty and Privacy 5.2.2 Disagreement and Liberal Neutrality 5.2.3 Family Integrity and Children’s Interests 5.2.4 Autonomy, Privacy and Paternalism 5.2.5 The Potential for Undesirable Consequences 5.2.6 The Cost of Enforcement, Prosecution and Punishment 5.2.7 Claims for Religious and Cultural Accommodations 6 Animals and Criminals 6.1 Corporal Punishment of Animals 6.2 Judicial Corporal Punishment 6.2.1 The Rationales for Punishment 6.2.2 Is Judicial Corporal Punishment Degrading, Cruel or Torturous? 6.2.3 The Benefits and Costs References Index