Against the Death Penalty: Writings from the First Abolitionists-Giuseppe Pelli and Cesare Beccaria

Cesare Beccaria's On Crimes and Punishments was the first known abolitionist critique of the death penalty. Giuseppe Pelli's critique of capital punishment, written three years before Beccaria's treatise, was lost for two centuries in the Pelli family archives. Peter Garnsey examines the contrasting arguments of the two abolitionists, who drew from different intellectual traditions. Pelli was a devout Catholic influenced by natural jurists, while Beccaria was inspired by French Enlightenment philosophers. Garnsey explores how Beccaria's alternative penalty of forced labor was embraced in Britain and America and delves into Pelli's diaries, shedding light on his intellectual development and painting a vivid portrait of an Enlightenment man of letters and conscience.

\n Format: Hardback
\n Length: 226 pages
\n Publication date: 10 November 2020
\n Publisher: Princeton University Press
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In 1764, a Milanese aristocrat named Cesare Beccaria caused a stir with the publication of his groundbreaking work, On Crimes and Punishments. At the heart of this influential treatise lies a staunch rejection of the death penalty, deeming it excessive, unnecessary, and futile. Beccaria is widely celebrated as the founding father of modern criminal-law reform, yet it is important to note that he was not the sole advocate for the abolition of capital punishment.

Against the Death Penalty presents the first English translation of Giuseppe Pelli's critique of capital punishment, written three years prior to Beccaria's treatise but lost in the Pelli family archives for over two centuries. In this insightful work, Peter Garnsey delves into the contrasting arguments of the two abolitionists, drawing from different intellectual traditions. Pelli, a devout Catholic influenced by the writings of natural jurists like Hugo Grotius, focused specifically on the death penalty, composing a critique of remarkable depth and sophistication. Garnsey explores how Beccaria's alternative penalty of forced labor, conceptualized as servitude, was embraced in Britain and America, and delves into Pelli's voluminous diaries, shedding light on Pelli's intellectual development and painting a vivid portrait of an Enlightenment man of letters and conscience.

To enhance the reader's experience, Against the Death Penalty includes translations of letters exchanged by the two abolitionists and selections from Beccaria's writings. This comprehensive work provides fresh insights into eighteenth-century debates about capital punishment and offers valuable historical perspectives on one of the most pressing ethical dilemmas of our time.

\n Weight: 544g\n
Dimension: 164 x 242 x 24 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9780691209883\n \n