Criminal Justice Without Moral Responsibility

Addressing Problems with Consequentialism

Abstract

This paper grants the hard determinist position that
moral responsibility is not coherent with a deterministic world
view and examines hard determinist alternatives to traditional
punishment. I claim that hard determinist accounts necessarily
involve consequentialist reasoning and discuss problems stemming
from them. I also argue that a revised model of traditional
consequentialism called complex consequentialism, a view in which
multiple values may be considered as ends, provides the best moral
framework for a hard determinist account. Ultimately, I examine a
criminal justice model that draws heavily on public health ideals and
argue that it should considered a complex consequentialist account.