Eye for an Eye [Paperback]

This book is a historical and philosophical mediation on paying back and buying back, that is, it is about retaliation and redemption.This book is a historical and philosophical mediation on paying back and buying back, that is, it is about retaliation and redemption. It takes the law of the talion-eye for an eye, tooth for tooth- seriously. In its biblical formulation that law states the value of my eye in terms of your eye, the value of your teeth in terms of my teeth. Eyes and teeth become units of valuation. But the talion doesn't stop there. It seems to demand that eyes, teeth, and lives are also to provide the means of payment. In its highly original way, the book offers a theory of justice. It is about getting even in a toughminded, unsentimental, but respectful way. And finds that much of what we take to be justice, honor, and respect for persons requires, at its core, measuring and measuring up.This book is a historical and philosophical mediation on paying back and buying back, that is, it is about retaliation and redemption. It takes the law of the talion-eye for an eye, tooth for tooth- seriously. In its biblical formulation that law states the value of my eye in terms of your eye, the value of your teeth in terms of my teeth. Eyes and teeth become units of valuation. But the talion doesn't stop there. It seems to demand that eyes, teeth, and lives are also to provide the means of payment. In its highly original way, the book offers a theory of justice. It is about getting even in a toughminded, unsentimental, but respectful way. And finds that much of what we take to be justice, honor, and respect for persons requires, at its core, measuring and measuring up.Analyzing the law of the talion--an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth--literally, William Ian Miller presents an original meditation on the concept of pay back . Miller's unique theory of justice offers redemption via retaliation. It espouses the view that revenge is a highly structured phenomenonl³!