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Notes -
Edge case 1 implicates retributive versus rehabilitative philosophies of justice. A person can believe the proper course for obtaining the most social good is “fuck em” rather than persuasion, if they hold a retributivist philosophy regarding social infractions. Punishing defectors involves dispensing justice, involving just desert claims, etc. For instance, if someone killed an innocent woman, many would want that person executed even if you show them a detailed spreadsheet proving that he can be rehabilitated and increase sum total good marginally via tax revenue. I agree, and while the philosophical underpinnings are weak (compared to the unique but similar deterence theories of execution), I think it boils down to that I instinctually feel good as a biological organism knowing that the person has been executed, and this biological emotion is valuable in itself, as I’m sure it’s valuable to the crows that kill defecting crows and leave their carcass out for all to see.
Sort of a tangent. But my point is that they could still want to improve society, they just believe that the defecting out-group is so defective that punishing them is a good in itself for retribution’s sake.
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