Themes from The Ends of Harm: The Moral Foundations of Criminal Law

This informal workshop will take up themes from Victor Tadros’s important recent publication, The Ends of Harm: The Moral Foundations of Criminal Law (Oxford: OUP, 2011), which tackles a range of philosophical issues relating to the justification of punishment. Tadros rejects traditional retributivist accounts of punishment, advancing a novel, duty-based account of why the state may inflict punitive harms on offenders. The papers at the workshop will develop some of the themes highlighted by Tadros’s book in light of his arguments. Probable topics include the ethics of self-defence, the permissibility of harming the innocent, desert, moral responsibility, the scope and stringencies of our duties to others, and justifications of punishment. 

The workshop is generously sponsored by the Society for Applied Philosophy. Those wishing to attend the workshop should contact Helen Frowe ([email protected]) in the first instance. Please note that there are no subsidies available for attendees and that places will be limited.