Cesare Beccaria–Free Will & the Classical School

In 1764, the Italian writer Cesare Beccaria completes "On Crimes and Punishments," a book so radical that he originally publishes it anonymously, fearing the response of the church. Beccaria applies Enlightenment concepts to criminal justice. Believing that people are rational and act out of free will, he suggests that they make calculated decisions about what behavior to engage in. They weigh the costs and benefits of an action in order to decide how to proceed. Therefore, he concludes, criminals have calculated that the benefits of their criminal acts outweigh the costs. To prevent them from committing the crime in the first place, then, the equation must be reversed. Beccaria says that the key to achieving this is making the punishment swift­directly associated with the crime­and certain­so that it must be factored into a potential criminal's reasoning process.

Beccaria also believes that criminal law should be simple and clear enough for everyone to understand. He supports a legal system in which judges are impartial and have little discretion, so that everyone is treated equally. He opposes the death penalty, abuse of power, and torture. Beccaria's revolutionary ideas make his book an instant success, it is translated and repeatedly reprinted. His work marks the beginning of the classical school of criminology.

Cesare Beccaria