ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a clarification of the question of justification and an exploration of why it arises. Next, I set out Bentham’s justification of punishment (which is often distorted) because Hart accepts it and I try to verify whether the demanding conditions it lays down (especially the one that punishment has to be a necessary evil) are met. In a later stage, I explain why Hart rules out the retributive and expressive justifications. Finally, I introduce the right-based justification (implicit in “Are There Any Natural Rights?” and Essays on Bentham) building on the moral right to the obedience of free riders and the moral right to security, and I connect it to Hart’s pluralism about forms of moral reason.
