#436 Gregg Caruso: Just Deserts, and Rejecting Retributivism
RECORDED ON FEBRUARY 23rd 2021.
Dr. Gregg D. Caruso is Professor of Philosophy at SUNY Corning and Honorary Professor of Philosophy at Macquarie University. He is also the Co-Director of the Justice Without Retribution Network (JWRN) at the University of Aberdeen School of Law. His research interests include free will, agency, and responsibility (both moral and legal), as well as philosophy of mind, cognitive science, neuroethics, moral psychology, criminal law, punishment, and public policy. His books include Rejecting Retributivism: Free Will, Punishment, and Criminal Justice (2021), Just Deserts: Debating Free Will (w/Daniel C. Dennett) (2021), Free Will and Consciousness: A Determinist Account of the Illusion of Free Will (2012), Exploring the Illusion of Free Will and Moral Responsibility (2013), Science and Religion: 5 Questions (2014), Neuroexistentialism: Meaning, Morals, and Purpose in the Age of Neuroscience (co-edited w/Owen Flanagan); and Free Will Skepticism in Law and Society (co-edited w/Elizabeth Shaw and Derk Pereboom).
In this episode, we focus on the two books: Just Deserts, and Rejecting Retributivism. First, we give an overview of the philosophical positions on free will, with a focus on incompatibilism, and we talk about luck. We discuss degrees of free will. We then talk about the link between free will and morality; praise and blame; if people need to believe in free will to be moral; how our legal and penal systems work, and how they should change; if we need to punish wrongdoers. Finally, we go through a lengthy discussion about how a new system could replace the penal systems based on retributivism, and we ask if we should nudge people.
Time Links:
Intro
Different philosophical positions on free will
Luck
Are there degrees of free will?
Free will and morality
Praise and blame
Do people need to believe in free will to be moral?
Legal systems
Should we punish wrongdoers?
Alternatives to retributivism
Nudging people
Follow Dr. Caruso’s work!
Follow Dr. Caruso’s work:
Faculty page: http://bit.ly/3pNh0cJ
Website: http://bit.ly/2ZHZQCM
Amazon page: https://amzn.to/3btFJO9
Just Deserts: https://amzn.to/3pKCSFF
Rejecting Retributivism: https://amzn.to/3aKnvcb
Twitter handle: @GreggDCaruso