The essays propose innovations to familiar theories of punishment and compelling arguments against some long-respected positions, and also outlines some powerful and original approaches to the issue of justification. The articles in the first section of the book debate the basic question of whether any practice of punishment can be justified. Retributivist, deterrence, and hybrid theories of punishment are all explored here. The papers in the second section of the book examine specific problems arising within the theory of classical retributivisim, and explore questions about the justifiability of particular aspects of the American practice of punishment. The final section deals with the jusitifiability of capital punishment, focusing on issues of degradation, arbitrariness, and deterrence. Chapter references