Beccaria's classic study On Crimes and Punishments belongs to the category of works which are much cited and little read. In Beccaria's case the reasons for this relative neglect are twofold. First, until recently even those who have attempted to read him, either in the original or in translation, have had to rely on a corrupt text. As is explained in the Note on the texts, the present edition provides the first English version of the book as it was last published and revised by Beccaria. Second, the context provided by Beccaria's other writings and those of his circle is rarely known, so that the background assumptions on which his argument rested have either appeared obscure or simply been misconstrued. As a result, Beccaria has come to be pigeon-holed as one of the founding fathers of a putative tradition of classic penal reformers, and the distinctiveness of his contribution has been recognised only rarely.

在政治理论领域，“剑桥政治思想史原著系列”作为主要的学生教科丛书，如今已牢固确立了其地位。本丛书旨在使学生能够获得从古希腊到20世纪初期西方政治思想史方面所有最为重要的原著。它囊括了所有著名的经典原著，但与此同时，它又扩展了传统的评价尺度，以便能够纳入范围广泛、不那么出名的作品。而在此之前，这些作品中有许多从未有过现代英文版本可资利用。只要可能，所选原著都会以完整而不删节的形式出版，其中的译作则是专门为本丛书的目的而安排。每一本书都有一个评论性的导言，加上历史年表、生平梗概、进一步阅读指南，以及必要的词汇表和原文注解。

本丛书的最终目的是，为西方政治思想的整个发展脉络提供一个清晰的轮廓。

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chronology

Biographical glossary

Note on the texts

Bibliographical note

On Crimes and Punishments

Frontispiece

To the Reader

Introduction

The origin of punishment

The right to punish

Consequences

The interpretation of the laws

The obscurity of the laws

The proportion between crimes and punishments

Errors in the measuring of punishments

The classification of crimes

Of honour

Of duels

Public peace

The purpose of punishment

Of witnesses

Evidence and forms of judgement

Secret denunciations

Of torture

Of the exchequer

Of oaths

Of prompt punishments

Violent crimes

The punishment of the nobility

Theft

Public disgrace

Parasites

Banishment and confiscations

Family feeling

Lenience in punishing

The death penalty

Of detention awaiting trial

Trials and prescriptions

Crimes difficult to prove

Suicide

Smuggling

Of debtors

Asylums

On setting a price on men's heads

Attempted crimes, accomplices and immunity

Leading interrogations, depositions

Of a particular kind of crime

False ideas of utility

How to prevent crimes

The sciences

Magistrates

Public awards

Education

Pardons

Conclusion

To Jean Baptiste d'Alembert

To Andr~ Morellet

Inaugural Lecture

Reflections on the Barbarousness and the

 Civilisation of Nations and on the Savage

 State of Man

Reflections on Manners and Customs

On Luxury

Index