ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to articulate the sort of conflict that one might suspect exists between judging a person retributively and understanding her and her behaviour. Retributive judgement, in short, is to censure a person to the same degree as, and basically because of, wrongful behaviour for which he is responsible. The basic idea is that the principle of respect for the dignity of persons justifies punishing a person because of, and in proportion to, his wrongdoing, so long as the person is in a certain, naturalist sense responsible for the wrongdoing. Respect also requires treating persons as equals as well as helping them on occasion to develop their capacity to choose goals or to attain the goals they have chosen. Compensatory, military, healthcare and economic justice are all a function of tracking responsible choice, at least from a Kantian standpoint.
