 The remedial structure of tort law reflects its nature as a part of private law. Unlike a criminal prosecution (but like an action for breach of contract) a tort action is initiated by the aggrieved party rather than the state. Unlike a criminal prosecution, the remedy sought in a tort action does not involve incarceration or the payment of a fine to the state, but rather either the payment of damages to the aggrieved party or, in a limited range of cases, an injunction requiring the defendant to cease their wrongful activity. Courts also give a range of more particular damage awards, including nominal damages (to recognize the existence of a wrong), “general damages” for the tort of defamation (awarded for the fact of injury in addition to “special damages” for clearly quantifiable losses), and aggravated damages for particularly egregious instances of wrongdoing. In some instances, a court will award punitive damages, over and above those damages that are tied to the magnitude of the wrong. As their name suggests, such damages have a punitive dimension, but they differ in important ways from punishment for violation of the criminal law, both in the standard of proof that is applied to them and in the fact that they are awarded to the injured party. The relation between punitive damages and the broader structure and nature of tort law remains a matter of controversy, both in legal doctrine (punitive damages are very rare outside the United States) and in philosophical accounts.