Punishment as a philosophical concept. The problem of escaping contexts

The article represents a general description of a punishment as a philosophical concept, which initially implies its dialectical opposite - a crime. The interrelation of the punishment concept with the problem of violence, freedom, justice is shown. The irregularity of the issue of the punishing subject, of the extent and degree of punishment in different socio-cultural circumstances is revealed. There are social and cultural contexts associated with the problem of punishment. The historical, political, educational, religious, existential, biopolitical contexts are the most significant among them. The core problem of the punishment issue is the insoluble contradiction between the preservation and destruction of human life. The article considers the transformation of the concept of punishment in Russian culture, where before the revolution of 1917 the religious-existential aspect of the problem was deeply understood, and in the Soviet period, where the political, educational and existential-psychological aspects of the problem of punishment and camp prose were considered by philosophers.