Record Detail

Moving beyond the retributive system re-
quires clearing away some of the basic assumptions that
form the foundation of that system: most importantly,
the assumption of moral responsibility, which is held in
place by deep and destructive belief in a just world.
Efforts to justify moral responsibility typically appeal
to some version of self-making, and that appeal is only
plausible through limits on inquiry. Eliminating moral
responsibility removes a major impediment to deeper
inquiry and understanding of the biological, social, and
environmental causes of both vicious and virtuous be-
havior. The resources for moving beyond the moral
responsibility are already being developed in social
democratic corporatist cultures as well as in workplace
management models that nurture commitment and reject
blame and shame. Without moral responsibility we must
face the unpleasant fact that although punishment is
sometimes unavoidable it is always unjust. That un-
pleasant fact motivates difficult but beneficial changes
that minimize both the extent and the severity of puni-
tive measures.