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Metaphysics & Morals In Canadian Criminal Justice: A Pragmatic Analysis Of The Conflict Between Neuroscience And Retributive Folk Psychology, Sarah Greenwood
Metaphysics & Morals In Canadian Criminal Justice: A Pragmatic Analysis Of The Conflict Between Neuroscience And Retributive Folk Psychology, Sarah Greenwood
LLM Theses
The retributive justification of Canadian criminal law contains several assumptions about human nature that conflicts with what neuroscience has established regarding human behavior and the function of rationality. Interdisciplinary discourse on this conflict between law and neuroscience has unnecessarily implicated the free will debate and is further stagnated by epistemic cultural differences between the two disciplines. To avoid these roadblocks, this thesis applies the methodological principles of pragmatic philosophy. Rather than asking which description of human nature is true, pragmatic inquiry focuses on the difference either would make in practice. This analysis reveals that retributive folk psychology in practice causes …
Challenging Moral And Policy Rationales For Charging Youth As Adults, Molly Lockwood
Challenging Moral And Policy Rationales For Charging Youth As Adults, Molly Lockwood
Pitzer Senior Theses
Does the practice of charging juveniles as adults serve the retributive and consequentialist goals of criminal justice policy? Proponents of limiting juvenile court jurisdiction argue that the rehabilitation-oriented remedies available therein are neither sufficient to hold adolescents accountable for wrongdoing, nor strong enough to deter future youth crime. The first chapter of this thesis examines the forward and backward looking premises underlying juvenile transfer to adult criminal court. I find that transfer policies are inconsistent with dominant theories of responsibility and punishment as applied to juveniles. I argue in Chapter One that transfer produces undesirable outcomes with respect to the …