Part of the reason people are so keen on a vicious retributivism when it comes to violent crime is they find it very easy to empathize with victims and very difficult to empathize with perpetrators.
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That's odd, and there will be a big selection bias going on, but it's another data point showing that empathy screws up people's judgement! :)
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One reason may be that decent people can see themselves as a victim but not as a villain. I can relate to a mugging victim as I might be mugged. I can’t show empathy for a mugger as I would never under normal circumstances mug anyone.
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True, but that doesn’t lead easily to retributivism. Empathy with the victim is compatible with more thoughtful responses. There has to be something else, too.
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As you say: ‘Heather Saunders, whose husband was shot in Athens, showed commendable restraint when she insisted that she never thought that his murderers should be put up against a wall and shot, simply that they should be “locked up for a long time to keep other people safe.”’
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I wonder to what extent we think our response to violent crime through rather than letting some deeper urge for simple self preservation take over and then justifying it after.
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