Morality and Determinism, Essay Example

If every action in the universe could be shown to be determined by material laws of nature and free-will revealed to be merely a cognitive illusion, then I believe people would not be morally responsible for the behaviors. This means that in a traditional sense people should not be punished or held morally accountable for the actions because all traditional ideas of morality and crime and punishment are based on the assumption that individuals possess free will. The three main reasons for administering punishments for crime are: to teach the criminal the error of their ways, to deter others from committing the same or similar crimes, and to promote a universal respect for the rule of law itself, which is assumed to be based on ethical and moral principles. In a deterministic universe where free will is nonexistent, the idea of teaching a criminal to reform their behavior through punishment is meaningless, as is the idea of trying to deter other potential criminals. In a deterministic universe, the laws of physics alone will determine whether or not a person commits a crime or for that matter becomes the victim of a crime. This means that there is no purpose in creating or maintaining a traditional criminal justice system. Instead, science and technology should be developed that can identify criminals before they act and intercede with prohibitive actions, including imprisonment if necessary, to prevent crime. This is obviously the only viable approach toward maintaining a semblance of law-enforcement in a purely deterministic universe. It is admitted that people are not responsible for their actions, but it is also admitted that some people are bound to commit crimes by the laws of nature and so should be stopped before they can cause harm to others. They should not be punished with a view to teaching them morality, but simply contained until deterministic science indicates that they no longer pose a threat to society.