Retribution vs. Revenge

Revenge

Revenge is a form of justice usually assumed to be enacted in the absence of the norms of formal law and jurisprudence. Often, revenge is defined as being a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. It is used to punish a wrong by going outside the law. This is because the individual taking revenge feels as though the law will not do justice. Revenge is also known as retribution or vengeance; it may be characterized as a form of justice (not to be confused with retributive justice), an altruistic action which enforces societal or moral justice aside from the legal system. Francis Bacon described it as a kind of “wild justice” that “does… offend the law [and] putteth the law out of office”. Primitive justice or retributive justice is often differentiated from more formal and refined forms of justice such as distributive justice and divine judgment.