Abstract

An XVIII century copy of On crimes and punishments with three handwritten Notes was found in Rome. According to Sbardella, they were written by Beccaria to introduce the new frontier of his theory: a new social contract without limitations on individual freedom, a new society without private property and without conflicts and, as a result, the abolitionism of criminal law. The purpose of this work is to demonstrate that Sbardella’s interpretation does not seem correct. According to Beccaria, freedom without limits is anarchy and must be rejected. Furthermore, to abolish private property does not eliminate social conflicts and does not imply the abolition of criminal law.