Syriology

By Adnan Mouhiddin

In 1789, Gabriel de Mably, a French Philosopher, argued that punishment should strike the soul rather than the body. His statement was considered revolutionary in his era standards, when criminals were physically tortured under horrifying methods and techniques. The rise of alternatives to punishment is as old as the history: In the face of the ‘eye for an eye’ law, Jesus the Nazareth offered those who were without a sin to cast the first stone. But has anything changed since Mably’s statement?