In Defence of Defences
This chapter considers the tenability and importance of the distinction, often drawn by criminal lawyers, between ‘offences’ and ‘defences’. Various eliminative interpretations of the distinction are rejected, and the view is defended that justifying a wrong is importantly different from denying it. The moral (and more generally rational) importance of this distinction between denying and justifying wrongdoing is developed and illustrated in the first half of the chapter. The second half of the chapter tackles the further distinction, within defences, between justificatory and excusatory defences. It tries to show that excusatory defences are more like justificatory defences, and less like denials of responsibility, than has usually been supposed.
Keywords: criminal law, justification, excuse, wrongdoing, responsibility
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .