Edited by: A. John Simmons, Marshall Cohen, Joshua Cohen, and Charles R. Beitz

The problem of justifying legal punishment has been at the heart of legal and social philosophy from the very earliest recorded philosophical texts. However, despite several hundred years of debate, philosophers have not reached agreement about how legal punishment can be morally justified.

That is the central issue addressed by the contributors to this volume. All of the essays collected here have been published in the highly respected journal Philosophy & Public Affairs.

Taken together, they offer not only significant proposals for improving established theories of punishment and compelling arguments against long-held positions, but also original and important answers to the question, “How is punishment to be justified?”

Part I of this collection, “Justifications of Punishment,” examines how any practice of punishment can be morally justified. Contributors include Jeffrie G. Murphy, Alan H. Goldman, Warren Quinn, C. S. Nino, and Jean Hampton.