Evil or Ill Justifying the Insanity Defence Routledge 1997

Jun 23, 2026

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Evil or Ill Justifying the Insanity Defence analyzes arguments related to the insanity defence within legal and moral debate. The work examines how conceptions of wrongdoing, harm, and responsibility are used to justify or challenge excusing criminal conduct on the grounds of mental incapacity. Emphasis lies on assessing whether the defence can be reconciled with principles of justice, accountability, and public safety, and on clarifying the conditions under which it is defensible.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages335

Reading Time8 h 36 min

Legal and moral framing

Responsibility and wrongdoing

Justification conditions

FAQs

What central topic does the book address?

It addresses arguments surrounding the insanity defence and its legal-moral justification.

How does the work relate mental incapacity to responsibility?

It discusses how mental incapacity is used to excuse conduct and what that implies for attributing responsibility.

What kinds of principles are evaluated?

It evaluates principles tied to justice, accountability, and the defensibility of excusing criminal behavior.

Jun 23, 2026

Upload by Hazel