Revolutionary Ideas of Cesare Beccaria – How the Treatise on Crimes and Punishments Influenced the Debate on Capital Punishment and Torture

The article analyzes the impact of Cesare Beccaria’s On Crimes and Punishments on the emergence of the debate concerning the legitimacy of capital punishment and torture. The introduction outlines the main features of the Enlightenment, the period during which Beccaria began his work. The article then discusses how the death penalty was perceived prior to the publication of the treatise, referring to the views of thinkers such as Plato and Saint Thomas Aquinas. The author of the article points out that it was precisely during the Enlightenment that a critical reflection on this form of punishment began, and that Beccaria’s work served as one of the key catalysts for this discussion. The analytical section presents the context in which the treatise was written, along with Beccaria’s utilitarian arguments: capital punishment and torture do not benefit society and therefore should be abolished. Beccaria considers the death penalty irrational and morally unjustifiable. The conclusion discusses the influence of On Crimes and Punishments on contemporary intellectuals and rulers, including Leopold II’s decision to abolish the death penalty in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.