‘This Dangerous Drug of Violence’: Bernard Bosanquet’s Common Good Theory of Punishment

Abstract

H.L.A. Hart’s theory of punishment is used to help explain the ways in which Bernard Bosanquet incorporates retribution, deterrence and reform into his common good-based theory of punishment. Hart’s framework is shown to miss certain crucial elements of Bosanquet’s theory: punishment as the community’s expression of its values and punishment as the communication to the criminal of the authority of those fundamental values. Hence, Bosanquet’s common good theory of punishment combines concerns with retribution, deterrence, reform, expression and communication in unique ways that both respect the individual and support the collective life of the community.