Abstract

This chapter highlights the development of the philosophy of punishment through the lens of ancient, Renaissance, and Enlightenment philosophers. It discusses centuries-old legal codes and, among others, the philosophies of Plato, Draco, Solon, Machiavelli, Montaigne, Voltaire, Beccaria, Montesquieu, Hegel, and Kant. In highlighting the Enlightenment’s influence on criminal justice practices, including the abolition or abandonment of the death penalty and draconian corporal punishments, the chapter sheds light on the transition from the “divine right of kings” to the Rule of Law and equality of treatment as the foundation for legal systems; the shift from biblical and religious justifications to secular rationales, such as proportionality and parsimony, for punishment; and the switch from “sanguinary” or “bloody” laws and punishments to the “penitentiary” system.