On reflection I’m very confused by that sentence. It has two parts, after the “with a few exceptions” qualification: “a crime is a thing forbidden by law” and “being forbidden by law means that it carries a punishment”. Both of these seem to be definitions, and I’m not sure what sense it makes to give a definition while saying it has exceptions. The immediately following sentence said—with no qualifications—“If you aren’t punished for it, it isn’t a crime”.
So I’ll take your word for it that you didn’t mean to assert that being forbidden by law means, by definition, carrying a punishment; but I can’t see that it was unreasonable for me to think you were asserting that.
I don’t think the original post is principally about the distinction between deterrent and non-deterrent punishment. It’s about whether punishing institutions are there for reform, for deterrence, or because people just like punishing, with the suggestion that there’s a great deal of the last of those even though it’s usual to talk as if the first two are what matter.
On reflection I’m very confused by that sentence. It has two parts, after the “with a few exceptions” qualification: “a crime is a thing forbidden by law” and “being forbidden by law means that it carries a punishment”. Both of these seem to be definitions, and I’m not sure what sense it makes to give a definition while saying it has exceptions. The immediately following sentence said—with no qualifications—“If you aren’t punished for it, it isn’t a crime”.
So I’ll take your word for it that you didn’t mean to assert that being forbidden by law means, by definition, carrying a punishment; but I can’t see that it was unreasonable for me to think you were asserting that.
I don’t think the original post is principally about the distinction between deterrent and non-deterrent punishment. It’s about whether punishing institutions are there for reform, for deterrence, or because people just like punishing, with the suggestion that there’s a great deal of the last of those even though it’s usual to talk as if the first two are what matter.