Abstract
American criminal law is committed to some version of the doctrine of double effect (“DDE”). In this paper, I defend a new variant of the agent-centered rationale for a version of DDE that is of particular relevance to the criminal law. In particular, I argue for a non-absolute version of DDE that concerns the relative culpability of intending a bad or wrongful state of affairs as opposed to bringing it about merely knowingly. My aim is to identify a particular feature of the former in virtue of which it is pro tanto more culpable than the latter. Providing an agent-centered argument of this kind for a culpability version of DDE, I argue, is an especially attractive route to take for those who are interested in vindicating the way the criminal law actually encodes DDE.
Disciplines
Criminal Law | Law | Law and Philosophy
Date of this Version
9-8-2015
Recommended Citation
Alexander F. Sarch, "Double Effect and the Criminal Law" (September 2015). University of Southern California Legal Studies Working Paper Series. Working Paper 176.
http://law.bepress.com/usclwps-lss/176
Comments
Forthcoming in Criminal Law and Philosophy.