Protagoras’ statements on punishment
- Give precise reasoning given and not given for punishment.
The text talks about why human beings punish those who commit offenses. It states that punishment is only meaningful if it is given with the goal of preventing future offenses. This is achieved by preventing the person and those who see getting punished for repeating it in the future. These are quotes from Socrates. However, it also states that a punishment should be given by focusing in the past as that would just be a vendetta with no meaningful outcome.
- How true is it on how communities/cities and individuals punish? Give reasons why/why not?
The text has a lot of truth about why punishments are given in today’s society. The law courts hand sentences to criminals to prevent them from repeating them in the future. This is the core message that Socrates said. The same is applied to individuals. For example, a person will ground his/her child so that he/she learns from her mistakes. A community will also deny certain individuals privileges so as to teach them vital lessons. All in all, the majority of society abides by Socrates’ principles.
- What does the above imply about a city’s capacity for rationally motivated punishment?
As with everything else, there is always a grey area. In this case, these are the people who give punishment as retribution, as opposed to preventing future occurrences. Socrates likened such people to wild beasts. The majority of society, though, follow the rationally motivated punishment discusses above. Therefore, I believe that the city as a whole has sufficient capacity for rationally motivated punishment. The minority can achieve the same mindset through sufficient education.