Similarities Between Cesare Beccaria And The Enlightenment

If you were to ask a group of scholars of their choice of a prominent figure from the Enlightenment Era, some will say Voltaire or Adam Smith. However, a good majority will reply with Cesare Beccaria, an Italian man who contributed to the Enlightenment Era as a jurist, philosopher, economist, and criminologist. Thus, as every other prominent Enlightenment thinker, Beccaria would continue to baffle the minds of many with his extraordinary ideas till the day of his death. Although we may no longer have his presence with us, we still have the works that he poured his “sweat and blood” to create. Nevertheless, Cesare Beccaria had truly accomplished what many Enlightenment philosophers have not done, that is, Cesare Beccaria had not only open our
minds but also guided our society to a direction he knew was correct.
The Italian philosopher, Cesare Beccaria was born on March 15, 1738, in Milan, Italy. The son of Giovanni Saverio Beccaria and Maria Beccaria, a family that would receive an average income, as a result, Cesare attended a Jesuit primary school in Parma, Italy where he dominated the mathematics field throughout. Years passed by and in the 1700’s, Cesare Beccaria and his newfound colleagues, Pietro and Alessandro Verri, had established a society whose main purpose was to discuss the reformation of the criminal justice system. At this point onward, Cesare Beccaria’s brilliance had begun to take form with his most popular work, “On Crimes and Punishments.” With his newfound fame from “On Crimes and Punishments,” Beccaria had received the opportunity to chat with the best minds of their time at an intellectual gathering at France. Unfortunately, Cesare Beccaria had failed to impress the philosopher and physiocrats, as a result, Cesare traveled back to Italy where later he received his final achievements such as a few political positions and the publication of a few known works.
From this point onward, Cesare had no longer yielded the touch of brilliance, as a result, the book “On Crimes and Punishments” became his only work to receive wide fame and recognition. To further elaborate on his writings, during the early 1760’s, Cesare Beccaria had become aware of using his writings as a method to voice his opinions to the general public, showcasing his opinion about the criminal justice system and the economy. For instance, within Cesare Beccaria’s magnum opus “On Crimes and Punishments,” many view the work as a method that Cesare used to critique the flaws in the criminal justice system and to resolve the problem with his take on the situation. To begin with, we first must analyze the books ongoing theme, as it contains and is influenced by Cesare’s opinion about the criminal justice system. Throughout the book, we the readers are a treated with Cesare’s two main themes or theories: First, the “Social Contract,” or in other words, a punishment is justified only to defend the social contract and to ensure that everyone will abide
by it; Second, Cesare introduces the idea of “Utility,” or how Cesare explains it as, the selection of the punishment that ensures the best for the public’s good. Furthermore, Beccaria explains that a punishment should not be applied as a mean to torture a person for his/her crime, rather as a method to guide the criminal to a better understanding of his actions and society; Cesare further states that we must abide by clear/simple laws, reward virtues, and improve our education as a method to halt all crime within the society. On the other hand, while maintaining a profile in the field of the criminal justice system, Cesare Beccaria had also dabbled a bit within the economic community. Following his fame in 1768, Cesare was chosen as the Chair in Public Economy and Commerce at the Palatine school in Milan, Italy. And from here, Cesare had published “Elements of Public Economy,” a transcript based upon the many lectures he gave as a lecturer at the school; With the aid of this book, Cesare Beccaria details topics such as the division of labor. Then, in 1771, Cesare Beccaria was appointed to the Supreme Economic Council of Milan, where he emphasized the issue of education and labor relations. All in all, Cesare Beccaria was no ordinary thinker of his time, speaking his mind left and right, criticizing topics that needed to be criticized; For that reason, he has earned himself the title as one the best Enlightenment Philosophers we have seen from the era. With the conclusion of Beccaria’s life on November 28, 1794, in his birthplace of Milan, Italy, Cesare had managed to leave a legacy that we are able to see within our nation’s foundation after a numerous amount of years.
For instance, Cesare Beccaria was a prominent influence on the process of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, influencing the construction of the rights that we see in our nation’s precious documents. Moreover, we can clearly see a huge influence of Cesare Beccaria within recent topics, such as truth in sentencing, swift punishment, and the discontinuation of the death penalty in some U.S. states. Whether Cesare Beccaria was a part of a party, publishing a work, or simply critiquing society, his ideology and influence exist after the many years it has remained solid. In conclusion, it is safe to say, Cesare Beccaria is and still will be, one of the best philosophers of the Enlightenment Period and an inspiration to our current
nation.