Johannes Himmelreich, Holly Lawford-Smith

The Monist 102(2), 134–150, 2019

Abstract

Punishing groups raises a difficult question, namely, how their punishment can be justified at all. Some have argued that punishing groups is morally problematic because of the effects that the punishment entails for their members. This paper argues against this view. The paper distinguishes the question of internal justice—how punishment-effects are distributed—from the question of external justice—whether the punishment is justified. The paper argues that issues of internal justice do not in general undermine the permissibility of punishment. The paper also defends the permissibility of what some call “random punishment,” arguing that, for some kinds of collectives, there is no general obligation to internally distribute the punishment-effects equally or in proportion to individual contribution.