Punishment: a neglected research topic

Abstract

This article deals with a topic, which is not taken up in present research on education, namely punishment. Although some work does exist on the question, the act of punishing is usually seen as «shameful but necessary practice», and has not constituted a field of research on its own. The article focuses on two main points: first that punishment, whether as a concept or as a practice, should become an object of research in the domain education philosophy. Secondly, that it is through such investigation that punishment (the act of punishing) will attain a fully educative dimension.