Cesare Beccaria
Cesare Beccaria wrote “On Crimes and Punishments” during the 18th century, in the years preceding the French Revolution of 1789. This era, known as the Age of Enlightenment, was a time for self-evaluation, mergence and progress. “On Crimes and Punishments” symbolizes the retrospective outlook of this period. In his treatise, Beccaria attempted to bring rationality and humanism to the criminal justice system through his collection of thought on criminal law and political theory.
Fearing the wrath of his country’s government, Beccaria originally published his book anonymously in 1764. However, when his treatise was accepted by the Milanese government, and exalted by such notables as Voltaire, the Parisian Intelligentsia and Catherine the Great of Russia, Beccaria openly took credit for his work.
Beccaria’s treatise was considered the most practical and influential book in the fight against torture and barbarism. The Church of Rome, however, placed his book on the Index of 1766 for “rationalistic pre-suppositions, sacrilege and political subversion”. Other criticisms surfaced – some valid. Beccaria knew nothing about the criminal justice system. The suggestion has been made that Beccaria tried to conceal his ignorance of the subject by using a very complex style of writing.
Interestingly, Pietro Verri, a friend and role model, suggested that the topic for “On Crimes and Punishments” to Beccaria. Verri then gathered Beccaria’s notes, “wrote them out, arranged them in order, and thus made a book out of them.” Even the notes which Beccaria had written were the result of discussions involving Verri and the “Academy of Fists”, a group of Milanese intelligentsia. Beccaria, who had a retiring disposition, travelled to Paris to be honoured for his work, but made a very bad impression and returned home humiliated. The author was never able to duplicate his earlier success.
At the conclusion of “On Crimes and Punishments”, Beccaria summarizes his treatise by proposing a theorem:
“The order for punishment not to be, in every instance, an act of violence of one or of many against a private citizen, it must be essentially public, prompt, necessary, the least possible in the given circumstances, proportionate to the crimes, dictated by the laws.”
Beccaria’s arguments are based on the belief that the purpose of the social contract is to have the “greatest happiness shared by the greatest number.” From this principle, he makes the premise that law, and the punishment of crime should be concerned with public security, and that punishment must not exceed what is necessary to support that security.
Beccaria’s conclusions are detailed in his essay, asserting the need for public protection of individuals who are accused of committing a crime, and the need for public displays of punishment for convicted criminals to help prevent others from committing similar crimes. Equally important, he adds, is the promptness of securing the punishment after a conviction has been made: “… When the length of time that passes between punishment and misdeed is less, so much the stronger and more lasting in the human mind is the association of these two ideas.”
Beccaria also deduces that punishments should not exceed what is necessary for the protection of society, that the less severe punishment under the circumstances be given, and that the punishment be proportionate the crime itself. Beccaria ultimately states that punishment should be dictated by the law.
These basic thoughts produce Beccaria’s theorem, which is expounded throughout the book through the use of examining the specific crimes and punishments of his era.
Some critics may question whether “On Crimes and Punishments” can really be considered the sole work of Beccaria. Despite being a novice in the criminal justice arena, and despite the criticisms that call Beccaria’s arguments persuasive and lacking in substance, his book remains a classic. “On Crimes and Punishments” remains an influential essay that was both typical for its time and ahead of its time. The single treatise that accorded Beccaria such acclaim affected his contemporaries as well as the people of later times. Jeremy Benthan (1748-1832) found of the school of Utilitarianism, first encountered the quote, “greatest happiness shared by the greatest number” in Beccaria’s book. There is also some evidence that the thrust of Beccaria’s essay affected the making of laws in France during the French Revolution.
Typical for its time, “On Crimes and Punishments” evaluated the society from which it was born. The Enlightenment brought about the desire for rationality and the hope that knowledge would conquer evil. Beccaria’s treatise fuelled the fire: “In the face of enlightenment widely diffused throughout the nation, the calumnies of ignorance are silenced and authority trembles if it be not armed with reason.” Later, Beccaria’s own grandson would explore the “exaggeration” of the evils of the justice system during the author’s time.
Present day readers can recognize that Beccaria’s book was ahead of its time. Situations that only existed in Beccaria’s mind are taken for granted now. For example, the author mentions “the temporary subjection of the labours and person of the criminal to the community”. Do we not call a sentence such as this community work? Beccaria also mentions the formation of banks: “… a public bank formed out of intelligently apportioned revenues derived from a prosperous commerce and designed to provide timely financial assistance for any unfortunate and innocent member.” Debtor’s prison was a reality in the 18th century – public banks were not. Beccaria also makes mention of what we now call prison states. In his discussion of expatriation, he examines the “uselessness of making a prison of a state… how are all points of its circumference to be closed? And who will guard the guards?” The spirit of nationalism and communism can conceivably be detected here. Beccaria even precedes the most radical feminists of our day with his discussion on dismantling the family as a monarchical unit. As a final example, Beccaria foreshadows the Constitution of the United States in his discussion of the right to bear arms: “an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.”
In an overall analysis of “On Crimes and Punishments”, it is clear that the philosophers of Beccaria’s epoch took time to evaluate their society and to make the effort to find better equation for a more humanistic world. Beccaria, by writing this book, provided practical assistance in the fight against
and barbarism. His book remains influential in both an historical and sociological sense. This book was a significant contribution to the Age of the Enlightenment. It revealed the present and the future – a future that would one day encompass many of the ideas proposed in his book.
Alessandro Manzoni, Beccaria’s grandson, claimed that the “husk of ancient law would have fallen eventually, even under the blows of less spirited assailants.” One cannot help but wonder, however, how much longer the fall would have taken.
