This Handbook provides a comprehensive survey of major topics in the philosophy of punishment from many of the field’s leading scholars.

Key features

• Presents a history of punishment theory from ancient times to the present.


• Evaluates the main proposed justifications of punishment, including retributivism, general and specific deterrence theories, mixed theories, expressivism, societal-defense theory, fair play theory, rights forfeiture theory, and the public health-quarantine model.


• Discusses sentencing, proportionality, policing, prosecution, and the role punishment plays in the context of the state.


• Examines advances in neuroscience and debates about whether free will skepticism undermines the justifiability of punishment.


• Considers forgiveness, restorative justice, and calls to abolish punishment.


• Addresses pressing social issues such as mass incarceration, juvenile justice, punitive torture, the death penalty, and “cruel and unusual” punishment.

· With its unmatched breadth and depth, this book is essential reading for scholars who want to keep abreast of the field and for advanced students wishing to explore the frontiers of the subject.