Excusing Criminal Wrongdoing : A Study of Responsibility in Legal Theory

概要

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The question of excusing in law has been the subject of different philosophical theories of responsibility. These theories attempt to shed light on the nature and function of legal excuses and to justify their role in a criminal justice system. This paper examines the issue of excusing in law from two different theoretical standpoints : the character theory and the choice theory of responsibility. The two theories differ on the kinds of causes of action they each find to provide the basis for holding people responsible. The character theory focuses on character, the choice theory on choice and the capacity to choose. It is argued that the character theory of responsibility, by drawing attention to what lies behind and motivates actual choices, offers a better basis for interpreting the moral significance of human actions and for explaining our actualblaming judgements with regard to those actions.
新潟大学法学会の論文