Abstract
John Finnis's contributions to the philosophy of criminal law have received somewhat less attention than a number of his other jurisprudential insights. This essay will highlight the virtues of his work on the central purpose of punishment, by elaborating a version of retributivism that is quite closely similar to his. My arguments are significantly different from those which Finnis presents - for example, I attach no importance whatsoever to the degree of correspondence between my positions and those advocated by Thomas Aquinas or other medieval philosophers - but the upshot of this essay is to underscore the solidity of Finnis's reflections on the moral role of punishment.
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