From structure to function: the right to punish in Arthur Schopenhauer

Abstract

This article aims to reconstruct Schopenhauer’s argument about the right to punish (Strafrecht), especially from the reading and analysis of the third edition of The World as Will and Representation (Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung, 1844), On the Freedom of the Will (Über die Freiheit des menschlichen Willens, 1839), On the Basis of Morality (Über die Grundlage der Moral, 1840), Parerga and Paralipomena (Parerga und Paralipomena, 1851), and the Schopenhauer’s early manuscripts (1804-1818 - Der handschriftliche Nachlass - Frühe Manuskripte). This task consists in these following stages: (i) exegesis of Schopenhauer’s early manuscripts; (ii) exegesis of Schopenhauer’s ethics – the § 62 of WWV I, On The Basis of Morality, On The Freedom of The Will, and the chapter IX of Parerga and Paralipomena.; (iii) an evaluation of the extension and impacts of Schopenhauer’s arguments. With the developing of the foregoing stages, it is expected to explain the importance and impact of the right to punish in Schopenhauer’s work: how it is understood by the author, the structure on which it is founded, its function and the significance of the concept of right in its various meanings and formulations in his work - the natural law, moral rights, positive law (Naturrecht, moralisches Recht, Positives Recht).