His first two arguments attempt to persuade us that punishments should be proportional in severity to their crimes, that is, no harsher than necessary to deter a crime. According to the social contract , individuals agree to give the state power over them, but only to the extent that is necessary to create order and harmony. Therefore, the state can punish only to the extent that is necessary to deter crimes, and no more than is required.
Any excessive punishment is an abuse of power by the state.
We gain more, for the same risk and consequences. Beccaria's final argument attempts to argue that there should be a proportionality in kind as well as degree. In order to best function as a general deterrent, the punishment should immediately bring to mind the crime in the mind of the would-be offender. The punishment should therefore symbolize the crime that it punishes. The black and white stripes of the uniform recalls to their minds the bars of imprisonment.