This chapter explains the initial motivation for, and some of the central distinctions of, the book. It begins by discussing how odd it is that, despite the fact that punishment (definitionally) is a matter of making people suffer, punishment theorists have rarely engaged with theodices (themselves devoted to explain why there is suffering in the world). The discussion of thedocies allows me to underscore the importance of axiology, and to distinguish axiological concerns from deontic ones. This distinction in turn allows me to distinguish between monistic and pluralistic justifications, and to explain why I defend a pluralistic justification. The chapter ends with an overview of the rest of the book.