ABSTRACT
I’m grateful for the chance to respond briefly to some of the points that Andrew von Hirsch has raised. I must admit at once that much was left under-explained in my chapter (and will still be left under-explained here), in particular about the kind of communitarianism to which I appeal, and about the implications of the nonsatisfaction of the preconditions of justified punishment which I discuss in section 3 of my chapter. However, whilst it is clear that the disagreement between von Hirsch and me depends in part on our different ideal conceptions of the state and of political community, I can indicate how I would hope to meet a few of his main criticisms and questions.
