Western Civilization II / Unit 6 WC2 0517 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Beccaria, 1764: Crime, Punishment, and the End of Torture
Captions available
The idea
Beccaria's On Crimes and Punishments of seventeen sixty-four argued that the state must protect the life and dignity even of the accused, that rich and poor should face the same laws, that prevention matters as much as punishment, and that torture is barbarous and useless.
In practice
Several monarchs banned torture; justice rationalized over decades.
Where people slip
The anchor's Cesare Bonesana is Beccaria.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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