Human Nature Foundation Held by the Classical School of Criminology

Abstract

Ōtsuka Hitoshi, a Japanese criminal jurist, points out that the opposition between the classical school of criminologyClassical School of Criminology and the positivist school of criminologyPositivist School of Criminology stems from their different understanding of the human natureHuman Nature of a criminal who is the subject of the crime. A crime is committed by a man on whom punishment is judged. Therefore, as the object of criminal law, human natureHuman Nature must often be considered. It can be said that the understanding of human nature determines the nature of criminal jurisprudence. It should be said that this judgment incisively reveals the root cause of the divergence between the classical school of criminologyClassical School of Criminology and the positivist school of criminology. However, the differences between the two schools on human nature are not only limited to the understanding of criminals’ human natureHuman Nature, but also involve the understanding of legislators’ and judicial persons’ human nature, which is precisely based on the different understanding of general human nature. Only by starting from human natureHuman Nature can we clarify the theoretical context and opposition points of the two schools.