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Quote by: Scribbler1  Without Googling a definition, my take on justice is it is simply payment in kind for a certain specific offense to another. It is seen as a kind of deterrent but I think it's more equalization of what is done to you relative to what you did to someone else.
If you brutality slaughter someone and his family, spending the rest of your life in prison isn't really justice. As much of a hell-hole a prison may be, the human animal has the ability to "get used to" even the worst conditions and as such his life is a LOT better than what he did to his victims. |
That's what I mean; how can any action "equalize" another action? The victims of the murder are dead; unless we accept a theistic view or karma or spiritual good and evil, what exactly are we equalizing? What difference does it make if the punishment is not as bad as what the criminal did to his victims? Why does it matter, if we don't adhere to the idea of heaven and hell?