Which two thinkers are central to the Classical School?

Which two thinkers are central to the Classical School?

• A. Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham
• B. Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx
• C. Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung
• D. Richard Dawkins and Stephen Hawking

Answer: (A)

Crime is treated as the result of rational calculation by individuals, so punishment should deter by being certain, swift, and proportionate to the offense. The two thinkers who embody this approach are Cesare Beccaria, who argued for reforming punishment, proportionality, and the elimination of cruel methods to make punishment a clear and effective deterrent, and Jeremy Bentham, who framed punishment in utilitarian terms and stressed that the calculus of pleasure versus pain should guide whether a sanction discourages crime. Together they anchor the Classical School, shaping how laws are designed to prevent crime through rational choice and deterrence. The other figures listed come from different traditions—Durkheim and Marx focus on social structure and conflict, Freud and Jung on psychology, and Dawkins and Hawking on science—so they aren’t central to this school of criminology.

Crime is treated as the result of rational calculation by individuals, so punishment should deter by being certain, swift, and proportionate to the offense. The two thinkers who embody this approach are Cesare Beccaria, who argued for reforming punishment, proportionality, and the elimination of cruel methods to make punishment a clear and effective deterrent, and Jeremy Bentham, who framed punishment in utilitarian terms and stressed that the calculus of pleasure versus pain should guide whether a sanction discourages crime. Together they anchor the Classical School, shaping how laws are designed to prevent crime through rational choice and deterrence. The other figures listed come from different traditions—Durkheim and Marx focus on social structure and conflict, Freud and Jung on psychology, and Dawkins and Hawking on science—so they aren’t central to this school of criminology.