David Boonin's book,
The Problem of Punishment, was
published by Cambridge University Press in April 2008. It was one
of two books that year to receive a
Kayden
Book Award from the University of Colorado and funding for the
symposium was made possible by a grant from the Eugene M. Kayden
endowment that was part of that award. The book presents an
account of the moral problem that is raised by the state's practice of
punishing people for breaking the law, argues that we have no
successful solution to the problem, and concludes that the practice of
punishing people for breaking the law should be abolished. A pdf
file of the first ten pages of the book can be found
here.
After a short presentation
in which Professor Boonin will summarize the main contents of his book,
the symposium will consist of three main sessions. In each of
these sessions, an invited speaker will present a critical response to
the book, Professor Boonin will briefly respond, and the floor will
then be open for questions from the audience. The symposium is
free and open to the wider academic community as well as to the
general public. For further information, please contact David
Boonin at
david.boonin@colorado.edu.Graham Oddie
is Professor of Philosophy and Associate Dean of Arts and Humanities in
the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado.
David
Boonin is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of
Philosophy at the University of Colorado.
John
Martin Fischer is UC President's Chair, Distinguished Professor and
Chair of the Department of
Philosophy at the University of California, Riverside.
George Sher
is Herbert S. Autrey Professor of Philosophy at Rice University.
Stephen
Kershnar is Professor of Philosophy at SUNY Fredonia.
