Responsibility and Fault

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These original essays develop themes implicit in Herbert Hart and the author's "Causation in the Law". Why should we be held responsible for the harm we cause Honore proposes a theory of responsibility - "outcome responsibility" - according to which, to be responsible, it is sufficient to have intervened in the world. To act and to be responsible is to assume certain risks, so that responsibility can be a matter of luck rather than fault or merit. Whether responsibility carries with it moral blame or legal liability is an important but secondary question. With the help of this theory he explains the moral basis of strict liability and of tort law in general; shows when there is a moral difference between positive acts and omissions; and indicates the extent to which the circumstances that cause a wrongdoer to do wrong should affect his responsibility.

Reviews

Honore is never less than interesting and provocative. This splendid collection of essays can be strongly recommended to anyone interested in legal philosophy or in the moral dimensions of agency and responsibility; it also offers to those who are not familiar with Honore's work a useful introduction to his approach and to some of the central themes of his work in legal theory. -- R.A. Duff, University of Stirling * Philosophical Quarterly *
...marvellous collection of essays. -- William Lucy * Professional Negligence *

Author Bio

Tony Honor is the former Regius Professor of Civil law in the University of Oxford. is Reader in Law at University College London