MichaelVassar comments on Diseased thinking: dissolving questions about disease - Less Wrong
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This reminds me of my personal philosophy of crime. The only reason to punish people for a crime would be if it a) set an example (to society and to the person) or b) kept them from commiting the crime or a similiar one again as they can't when their in jail or dead. The only problem with this is that it works in reverse. We could put people who haven't commited a crime in jail on the grounds that they are likely to or it helps society when their in jail.
Before things go that far, shouldn't a society set up voluntary programs for treatment? Exactly how does one draw the line between punishment and treatment? Our society has blurred the two notions. (Plea bargaining involving attendance of a driving course.)
Great point. in real life one should usually look for the best available option when considering a potentially costly change rather than just choosing one hard contrarian choice on a multiple choice test. The fact that we have conflicting intuitions on a point is probably evidence that better 'third way' options exist.