There are men apparently less intelligent than apes. Why then should the man be capitally punished and the ape not brought to trial? And if the ape be made responsible and punishable, why not the dog, the horse, the pig, and the cat? In other words, does evolutionary criminology justify the judicial proceedings instituted by mediæval courts against animals or regard the typical human criminal as having in this respect no supremacy over the beast? Does modern science take us back to the barbarities of the Middle Ages in matters of penal legislation, and in abolishing judicial procedure against quadrupedal beasts is it thereby logically forced to stay the hand of justice uplifted against bipedal brutes?
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2015-03-25 05:05 pm (UTC)There are men apparently less intelligent than apes. Why then should the man be capitally punished and the ape not brought to trial? And if the ape be made responsible and punishable, why not the dog, the horse, the pig, and the cat? In other words, does evolutionary criminology justify the judicial proceedings instituted by mediæval courts against animals or regard the typical human criminal as having in this respect no supremacy over the beast? Does modern science take us back to the barbarities of the Middle Ages in matters of penal legislation, and in abolishing judicial procedure against quadrupedal beasts is it thereby logically forced to stay the hand of justice uplifted against bipedal brutes?