Cesare Beccaria

Lore & Background

Beccaria was born in Milan on 15 March 1738 to the Marchese Gian Beccaria Bonesana, an aristocrat of moderate standing from the Austrian Habsburg Empire. He received his early education in the Jesuit college at Parma and graduated in law from the University of Pavia in 1758. At first, he showed a great aptitude for mathematics, but studying Montesquieu redirected his attention towards economics. In 1762, his first publication, a tract on the disorder of the currency in the Milanese states, included a proposal for its remedy. In his mid-twenties, Beccaria became close friends with Pietro and Alessandro Verri, two brothers who with a number of other young men from the Milan aristocracy formed a literary society named 'L'Accademia dei pugni' (the Academy of Fists). Much of its discussion focused on reforming the criminal justice system. Through this group, Beccaria became acquainted with French and British political philosophers, such as Diderot, Helvétius, Montesquieu, and Hume. He was particularly influenced by Helvétius.

Reader's Guide

Beccaria's significance lies in his 1764 treatise *On Crimes and Punishments*, which marked the high point of the Milan Enlightenment. In it, Beccaria put forth some of the first modern arguments against the death penalty. The book was the first full-scale work to tackle criminal reform and to suggest that criminal justice should conform to rational principles. The brief work relentlessly protests against torture to obtain confessions, secret accusations, the arbitrary discretionary power of judges, the inconsistency and inequality of sentencing, using personal connections to get a lighter sentence, and the use of capital punishment for serious and even minor offences. Almost immediately, the work was translated into French and English and went through several editions. The French translator André Morellet (1765) imposed a more systematic order, and because Beccaria indicated in a letter that he fully agreed with him, scholars assumed these adaptations had Beccaria's consent in substance, though the differences are so great that Morellet's version became quite another book. Beccaria develops his position by appealing to social contract and utility, arguing that punishment is justified only to defend the social contract and that the method of punishment selected should serve the greatest public good. For Beccaria, the purpose of punishment is to create a better society, not revenge. He openly condemned the death penalty on two grounds: because the state does not possess the right to take lives, and because capital punishment is neither a useful nor a necessary form of punishment. He also argued against gun control law.

Did You Know?

• Beccaria's first publication in 1762 was a tract on the disorder of the currency in the Milanese states.
• He was a member of a literary society called 'L'Accademia dei pugni' (the Academy of Fists), a playful name hinting that relaxed conversations sometimes ended in affrays.
• The French translator André Morellet restructured Beccaria's *On Crimes and Punishments* so heavily that scholars consider it quite another book than what Beccaria wrote.
• Beccaria argued that duelling could be eliminated if laws protected a person from insults to his honour.
• He argued against gun control law.

Gallery