Free will skepticism, just deserts and justice without retribution an interview with Farah Focquaert

Abstract

In this interview, bioethicist Farah Focquaert explains the basic principles of a non-retributive conception of criminal justice. First, the central notions underlying retributivism that of free will and desert-based responsibility are addressed in a critical way. Focquaert then goes on to canvass a new way of conceiving the purposes of the system of criminal justice, with reconceptualized notions of personal responsibility and of sanctions forming its backbone. Focquaert argues that a society can remain safe and healthy without retributive measures, provided that an emphasis is placed on the prevention of crime, on the rehabilitation of the offenders and on the all-important perspective of the victim. The interview also considers the value of retributive emotions and the proper role of the new biomedical and neuroscientific technologies in the framework of the criminal justice system.