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THE AUTHOR CONSIDERS JEFFREY REIMAN'S VIEW OF THE PUNISHMENT OFFENDERS DESERVE BEFORE TURNING TO HIS MORAL SCRUPLES, ALLEGED TO JUSTIFY LESSER PUNISHMENTS, AND TO THE DISCRIMINATORY DISTRIBUTION OF THE DEATH PENALTY WHICH STEPHEN NATHANSON STRESSES. REIMAN BELIEVES THE DEATH PENALTY IS DESERVED BY SOME MURDERERS, BUT SHOULD NEVER BE IMPOSED. MORAL SCRUPLES SHOULD PRECLUDE IT. IF THE PUNISHMENT DESERVED ACCORDING TO THE LEX TALIONIS IS MORALLY REPUGNANT, WE MAY IMPOSE LESS, PROVIDED THE SUFFERING IMPOSED IN LIEU OF WHAT IS DESERVED IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE SUFFERING INFLICTED ON THE CRIME VICTIM. HOWEVER, SUFFERING EXCEEDING THAT OF HIS VICTIM CAN NEVER BE DESERVED BY THE OFFENDER; TO IMPOSE IT WOULD BE "UNJUST FOR THE SAME REASONS THAT MAKE PUNISHMENT OF THE INNOCENT UNJUST."

THIS PAPER SETS OUT TO PROVE THAT THERE IS SOMETHING UNIQUE AND UNIQUELY VALUABLE PROTECTED BY THE RIGHT TO PRIVACY. IT DEFINES PRIVACY AS A SOCIAL PRACTICE THAT INVOLVES A COMPLEX OF BEHAVIORS. THE PAPER DEALS WITH THE TWOFOLD RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PRIVACY AND PERSONHOOD. THE RIGHT TO PRIVACY PROTECTS THE INDIVIDUAL'S INTEREST IN BECOMING, BEING, AND REMAINING A PERSON.

In response to J. Thomson's argument (see SA0312/I1790) that we need not seek what is common to all rights in right to privacy claims, it is noted that there is a common & unique feature to claims of privacy rights, & this feature is of great value in moral reasoning. Linked with privacy rights are the notions of intimacy & personhood. It is necessary to recognize that privacy is a social practice that involves behaviors of restraint & exists for good reasons. The point of this very complicated social ritual is that it provides a means by which an individual's moral title to his existence is conferred. As such, privacy is a social process recognizing the value of intimacy in regard to the existence of the individual, which is a precondition of personhood. To be a person, an individual must recognize not just his actual capacity to shape his destiny by his choices; he must also recognize that he has an exclusive moral right to shape his destiny. The right to privacy is the right to the existence of a social practice which makes it possible for one to think of this existence as his. It protects an individual's interest in becoming, being, & remaining a person. Modified Author's Summary.

Der Verfasser wendet sich in seinem Aufsatz einigen historischen Grundproblemen zu, die im Zusammenhang mit der Ausprägung des politischen Systems der Sowjetunion und dessen Besonderheiten stehen. Dabei geht der Autor von der These aus, daß die Entstehung des Sowjetsystems durch den Dualismus der Revolution 1917 bereits vorherbestimmt gewesen ist. Dieser Dualismus ist durch den wachsenden Konflikt zwischen dem gebildeten Bürgertum und dem Proletariat gekennzeichnet. Der Autor untersucht auf dieser Grundlage die Ausgestaltung des sowjetischen staatlichen und gesellschaftspolitischen Systems von 1917 bis 1922. Im zweiten Abschnitt diskutiert er die Herausbildung und Verfestigung der Führungsrolle der Partei innerhalb des staatlichen und gesellschaftspolitischen Systems. Er spricht zudem die ökonomische Entwicklung des Landes in den zwanziger Jahren an, die dazu geführt habe, daß die politische Diktatur durch ein staatliches Wirtschaftsmonopol ergänzt worden ist. Abschließend geht der Autor auf die Rolle des Massenterrors im sowjetischen politischen System ein. Der Verfasser äußert abschließend die Hoffnung, daß durch die Herausbildung eines neuen und höheren Niveaus der Kultur in der Sowjetunion heutzutage die Möglichkeit besteht, das alte sowjetische politische System Geschichte werden zu lassen. (ICC)