telishment

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Coined by John Rawls in his 1955 paper “Two Concepts of Rules”. Probably a portmanteau of the Ancient Greek τέλος (télos, result; end; loosely, the greater good) and the English (pun)ishment. Compare telish.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

telishment (usually uncountable, plural telishments)

  1. (consequentialism) The act or institution of punishing the innocent for the sake of providing deterrence.
    • 1955, John Rawls, “Two Concepts of Rules”, in The Philosophical Review, LXIV, № 1, page 11:
      Try to imagine, then, an institution (which we may call “telishment”) which is such that the officials set up by it have authority to arrange a trial for the condemnation of an innocent man whenever they are of the opinion that doing so would be in the best interests of society.
    • 1961, John Hospers, Human Conduct: An Introduction to the Problems of Ethics[1], page 457:
      And I would say the same about punishments — not telishments, but punishments — in which the penalty is far too severe.

Further reading[edit]