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For context, this question came from discussions around some sentence lengths seen in the US prison system - where individuals can end up being sentenced for terms far exceeding their possible natural life (hundreds of years, etc).

Were it the case that reincarnation were possible, and said prisoner, after death, continued in a new body with no memories of their past life or crimes, would they still be morally obligated to finish their sentence? Would this depend on their knowledge of their past life?

(In turn, would the state be morally obligated to find and re-arrest the prisoner, were such identification possible?)

(If the argument in favour is that losing their memories made them no longer culpable, would that not mean a sufficiently traumatic brain injury, for example, would also justify freeing them?)

Fmtakan
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    Morally obliged in which ethical setting? What may be moral for me here and now may not be moral for you oversea and tomorrow. As the question is formulated, answer can unfortunately only be opinion based. – Johan Mar 11 '24 at 20:25
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    Is this a serious question or are you just trolling us? – D. Halsey Mar 11 '24 at 23:35
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    That is not how the ethics of reincarnation works, "rebirth is governed by the causal laws of karma (good actions cause pleasant fruit for the agent, evil actions cause unpleasant fruit, etc.)" SEP. The reincarnated form (one can be reincarnated as a plant or animal) and circumstances are themselves the retribution for past life as a whole, both good and bad parts, there is no need to import those parts piecemeal. – Conifold Mar 12 '24 at 03:31
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    Why go as far as the US system? Right here see the ban-periods of stackexchange. Here is one. Ironically his highly upvoted answer is really one of the most superb on the subjects. As it happens we are all "reincarnated prisoners' finishing our 'sentence'. And in the process accumulating new crimes with their sentences. This is usually called the axiom of karma – Rushi Mar 12 '24 at 04:12
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    The question is highly speculative. It is existentially important only for those who believe in reincarnation. In general, those who believe in reincarnation do also believe in the karma-doctrine. According to this doctrine the individual soul continues to exists after each life in a new body. Karma and reincanation ensure the rebirth in a form depending on the actions in the previous life. The new form is not necessarily a human form. But the exact conversion factor of a previous sentence is not known. – Jo Wehler Mar 11 '24 at 20:00
  • This sounds more like a question for WorldBuilding SE. That said, if i have to answer for the crimes commited in previous lives, can i also have access to all my assets accumulated during those? – armand Mar 21 '24 at 04:23
  • Are prisioners generally morally obliged to finish their sentences? Are people more generally morally obliged to follow arbitrary orders emitted by institutions? – ac15 Mar 30 '24 at 19:49

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