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4 - “Thank God I Failed”

from Part I - Puzzles in Criminal Law

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 November 2018

Heidi M. Hurd
Affiliation:
University of Illinois
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Summary

This chapter takes up a well-worn question: Does the fact of success or failure in a criminal attempt make any difference, in itself, to what the offender deserves by way of conviction and punishment? Alexander’s answer to this question is a firm “No,” backed up by some original arguments; my answer is “Yes,” and I support this answer by critically assessing Alexander’s arguments. In particular, I discuss some of the examples through which he hopes to prompt our intuitions in his favor; his arguments about “causal conundrums”; and the significance of the idea of a “moral ledger,” in which one’s moral credit and discredit is to be recorded. One important theme is the relief that a failed attempt might provoke in observers, or in a repentant attempter (“Thank God [you/I] failed”).
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Chapter
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Moral Puzzles and Legal Perplexities
Essays on the Influence of Larry Alexander
, pp. 60 - 75
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2018

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