Adam Smith e o problema da punição

Abstract

This work constitutes an investigation into the justification of the institution of punishment proposed by Adam Smith in The Theory of Moral Sentiments. For this purpose, it will be analyzed, in addition to the base work, in a secondary way and complementing the Lectures of Jurisprudence and texts by commentators such as Staley, Haakonssen, Coitinho, Cerqueira, among others. At first, in the introduction, the problem of punishment will be exposed, which consists of how we can justify the infliction of intentional harm by the State to an agent, given that, in ordinary situations, we deem intentional harm as a moral error. The second chapter presents a brief historical contextualization to temporally situate the Scottish philosopher and also, the analysis of his sentimental moral theory, considering concepts such as empathy, gratitude, resentment, and impartial spectator that are the necessary basis for the understanding of his proposal for the justification of punishment. The third chapter of this study will address the issue of punishment itself, presenting the retributivist aspects of Smith's justification, in addition to dialoguing with some commentators who frame the philosopher as a pure retributivist. The aim is to present that, even though the proposal contains traces of retributivism, framing it as one is limiting. To justify this statement, there will be an analysis of consequentialist concepts to draw a parallel with some points of Adam Smith's thought. It is in the third chapter that the proposal to justify the Scottish thinker's punishment will be analyzed in more detail. In order to do so, concepts of expressivist and rehabilitationist theories of justification of punishment will be resumed, drawing a parallel with the Smithian proposal that encompasses such ideas, in addition to the previously mentioned retributivist and consequentialist aspects. Finally, as a conclusion, the possible gains provided by this conception of justification of punishment presented by Adam Smith will be analyzed.