Topics of discussion during the two-day workshop:

The justification of punishment in general, and the more concrete discussions of how punishment is in fact experienced – above all in prisons, but also regarding other forms of state punishment – tend to gloss over the connections between the particularities of said punishment and the problem of its justification. We have no global objection to this level of generality: we concede not only that sometimes this general approach is unimpeachable, but that some other times it is actually necessary. As a perfectly general conceptual matter, punishment presupposes a (perceived) painful response to a (perceived) instance of wrongdoing; prison presupposes an (in principle) unwanted limitation of liberty. These statements are as true as statements to the effect that offering an answer presupposes a (perceived) question; that expressions of gratitude presuppose a (perceived) good deed; that a debtor presupposes a creditor, and so on. But we are also convinced about the importance of sometimes transcending these generalities.

University of Cambridge Staff & Students, whose department will be covering the registration fee, please liaise with your finance team to trigger internal charging process. Please arrange a PO/Grant Code/Cost centre prior to registering. 

Once arranged, please register under Category 2: UoC Student/Staff Registration: Internal recharge.  

For attendees who are self-funding and are not going through the University of Cambridge' internal charging process, please select Standard Registration category.