Why We Punish — Archaeology, Genealogy, and Functional Explanations
The Sciences of Ethics and Political Philosophy Reading Group will get together on 13 May, at 14:00 [WEST], to discuss a paper by Francesco Testini (unpublished draft), “Why We Punish — Archaeology, Genealogy, and Functional Explanations”). This session will have the confirmed presence of the author.
Abstract
Crucial among the concerns of moral and political philosophy is the critical evaluation of norms, practices, and institutions. How the history of how such things came into being, i.e., their genealogy, can contribute to their evaluation? Here I defend and enrich the pragmatic account of genealogy developed by Edward Craig, Bernard Williams, and Matthieu Queloz, according to which the point of genealogical inquiry is grasping the functional value of practices, norms, and institutions. I defend this account from its competitors and show its appeal by arguing that alternative accounts fail to explain why genealogical explanations (rather than less demanding forms of historical reconstruction, like archaeological ones) are particularly worthy of philosophical attention. I then enrich the underlying approach to genealogy by elaborating on its undertheorized relationship with real history and the social sciences, often obscured by the ‘state of nature’ causal stories for which the pragmatic approach is mostly known. I do so by taking up the practice of punishment as a case study. After drawing on evolutionary biology and anthropology to identify the basic functions of punishment, I resort to historical and sociological scholarship to reconstruct the local evolution of such a practice over the last two centuries, showing that such a reconstruction supplies critical resources against the currently dominant penal paradigm in several liberal-democratic societies, the so-called ‘justice model’ of punishment.
Anyone interested in participating can send an email to Frederico Carvalho (fredericomscarvalho@gmail.com) or Filipe Faria (filipefaria@fcsh.unl.pt).
The Sciences of Ethics and Political Philosophy Reading Group is an international monthly-assembling online reading group co-hosted by the CFCUL and the Ethics and Political Philosophy Lab (EPLab) of the IFILNOVA. More information about the group here.