霍布斯《利维坦》中的近现代自然权利与惩罚

Modern Natural Right and Punishment in Hobbes’s Leviathan

霍布斯是首位将惩罚理论建构于近现代理念之上的学者,也是近现代传统中规范性惩罚理论的首倡者,其思想主要体现在其《利维坦》之中。霍布斯的惩罚理论包含了对传统刑事司法观念的彻底批判。他试图表明,以威慑为目标的刑罚体系不仅仅是高效的,也是人道的。这是该理论的亮点,也使它为后来的所有近现代刑事司法思想奠定了基调。他关于威慑的定义,为后来西方国家的矫正运动开辟了道路。他的关于反对报应的主张,与其基本政治原理相一致,但从普通道德情感的角度来看,这只不过是运用简单的结果主义的方式回避了问题的实质。

Hobbes is generally recognized as a foundational political thinker in the modern tradition;he was also the first to attempt a systematic normative theory of punishment consistent with modern natural right-the basic principle of modern politics.Hobbes’s theory of punishment contains a radical critique of traditional criminal justice concepts.What makes it remarkable,and what enables it to set the tone for all subsequent modern thought on criminal justice,is its attempt to show that a penal system aiming at deterrence could be not only highly effective but also humane.His definition of deterrence cleared the way for later rehabilitation movements in Western Countries.His argument against retribution is consistent with his fundamental political principles,but from the point of view of ordinary moral sensibilities it merely begs the question by means of a simple consequentialism.