Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T01:39:26.288Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

14 - Guilt in Criminal Law: Guilt in Us or in the Stars?

from III - Legal Doctrine and Cognitive Sciences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 April 2021

By
Mikołaj Małecki  and
Marek Sławiński
Edited by
Bartosz Brożek ,
Jaap Hage  and
Nicole Vincent
Bartosz Brożek
Affiliation:
Jagiellonian University, Krakow
Jaap Hage
Affiliation:
Universiteit Maastricht, Netherlands
Nicole Vincent
Affiliation:
Macquarie University, Sydney
Get access

Summary

This article explores the notion of guilt understood as one of the conditions required to attribute criminal liability to a perpetrator of a prohibited act. We narrow our considerations only to the theories developed by continental law scholars. As a guiding schema for our presentation, we take the famous quote from Shakespeare, ‘The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.’ Our point of departure are the psychological theories that locate guilt in us, therefore explaining it as a perpetrator’s state of mind. With the critiques of this approach, we move to the normative theories which search for guilt outside the agent. Guilt is understood here as a charge that a perpetrator did not act in accordance with their legal obligations. Next, we present the imputative theory, which tries to return from distant stars to a perpetrator in defining what guilt is. In our final remarks, we offer the assessment of guilt as a principle of criminal liability and of its importance to the standard of human rights. Along the way, we also point to various problems that arise on the basis of each one of the discussed theories and that are interesting from the perspective of cognitive science, such as the problems of naïve psychology or the assumption of free will.

Type
Chapter
Information
Law and Mind
A Survey of Law and the Cognitive Sciences
 , pp. 289 - 316
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Achenbach, H. (1974). Historische und dogmatische Grundlagen der Strafrechtssystematischen Schuldlehre. Berlin: Schweitzer.Google Scholar
Barczak-Oplustil, A. (2005). Sporne zagadnienia istoty winy w prawie karnym. Zarys problemu (Disputable Issues of the Essence of Guilt in Criminal Law. Outline of the Problem). Czasopismo Prawa Karnego i Nauk Penalnych (Journal of Criminal Law and Penal Studies), 9(2) 79–96. https://czpk.pl/dokumenty/zeszyty/2005/zeszyt2/Barczak-Oplustil_A-Sporne_zagadnienia_istoty_winy_w_prawie_karnym._Zarys_problemu-CZPKiNP_2005-z.2.pdfGoogle Scholar
Barczak-Oplustil, A. (2016). Zasada koincydencji winy i czynu w Kodeksie karnym (Principle of Coincidence of Guilt and Act in Criminal Code). Kraków: Krakowski Instytut Prawa Karnego Fundacja (Kraków Institute of Criminal Law Foundation).Google Scholar
Belzer, M. (2005). Self-Conception and Personal Identity: Revisiting Parfit and Lewis with an Eye on the Grip of the Unity Reaction. Social Philosophy and Policy 22(2). 126–64. www.cambridge.org/core/journals/social-philosophy-and-policy/article/selfconception-and-personal-identity-revisiting-parfit-and-lewis-with-an-eye-on-the-grip-of-the-unity-reaction/4E60FA91894DD65FC00B8343BC3E0FE7Google Scholar
Brożek, B., & Jakubiec, M. (2017). On the Legal Responsibility of Autonomous Machines. Artificial Intelligence and Law 25, 293–304. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10506-017-9207-8Google Scholar
Chwast, J. (1964). The Social Function of Guilt. Social Work 9(2)(April), 58–63. https://academic.oup.com/sw/article-abstract/9/2/58/1942722?redirectedFrom=fulltextGoogle Scholar
Corrado, M. (1991). Notes on the Structure of a Theory of Excuses. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 82(3)(Autumn), 465–497.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
D’Amato, A. (1980). The Speluncean Explorers – Further Proceedings. Stanford Law Review, 32, 67–485.Google Scholar
Dancing-Rosenberg, H., & Dagan, N. (2019). Retributarianism: A New Individualization of Punishment. Criminal Law and Philosophy 19, 129–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dennett, D. (1976). Conditions of Personhood. In Oksenberg-Rorty, A. (ed.), The Identities of Persons. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Detlefsen, G. (2006). Grenzen der Freiheit – Bedingungen des Handelns – Perspektive des Schuldprinzips. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot GmbH.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Douglas, T. (2019). Punishing Wrongs From the Distant Past. Law and Philosophy 38. 335–358. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10982-019-09352-8Google Scholar
Feuerbach, A. (1798). Revision der Grundsätze und Grundbegriffe des peinlichen Rechts. Chemnitz: Erfurt.Google Scholar
Filar, M. (2011). Umyślność faktyczna czy umyślność prawna? (Factual or Legal Intent?) In Majewski, J. (ed.), Umyślność i jej formy. Pokłosie VII Bielańskiego Kolokwium Karnistycznego (Intentionality and its Forms. The Results of VII Bielany Criminal Law Colloquium). Toruń: Towarzystwo Naukowe Organizacji i Kierownictwa. Dom Organizatora.Google Scholar
Freudenthal, B. (1922). Schuld und Vorwurf im geltenden Strafrecht. Tübingen. J. C. B. Mohr.Google Scholar
Fuller, L. L. (1949). The Case of the Speluncean Explorers. Harvard Law Review 62(4). 616–45. www.jstor.org/stable/1336025?origin=crossref&seq=1Google Scholar
Glaser, S. (1934). Normatywna nauka o winie (Normative theory of guilt). Warsaw. Drukarnia Rolnicza. www.wbc.poznan.pl/dlibra/publication/287312/edition/236735/contentGoogle Scholar
Goldschmidt, J. (1913). Der Notstand, ein Schuldproblem: mit Rücksicht auf die Strafgesetzentwürfe Deutschlands, Oesterreichs und der Schweiz. Vienna: Manz Juristische Gesellschaft.Google Scholar
Goldschmidt, J. (1930). Normativer Schuldbegriff. Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr.Google Scholar
Graf zu Dohna, A. (1905). Die Elemente des Schuldbegriffs. Stuttgart: Stuttgart Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft.Google Scholar
Greenawalt, K. (1986). Distinguishing Justifications from Excuses. Law and Contemporary Problems 49(3), Responsibility (Summer), 89–108.Google Scholar
Greene, J., & Cohen, J. (2004). For the Law, Neuroscience Changes Nothing and Everything. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 359(1451), 1775–1785.Google ScholarPubMed
Hage, J. (2017). Theoretical Foundations for the Responsibility of Autonomous Agents. Artificial Intelligence and Law 25, 255–271. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10506-017-9208-7Google Scholar
Heinitz, E. (1926). Das Problem der materiellen Rechtswidrigkeit. Breslau: Schletter.Google Scholar
Heller, K. J. (2009). The Cognitive Psychology of Mens Rea. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 99, 317–379.Google Scholar
Herzberg, R. D. (2012). Setzt strafrechtliche Schuld ein Vermeidenkönnen voraus? Zeitschrift für die gesamte Strafrechtswissenschaft 124(1), 12–63.Google Scholar
Hillenkamp, T. (2015). Hirnforschung, Willensfreiheit und Strafrecht – Versuch einer Zwischenbilanz. Zeitschrift für die gesamte Strafrechtswissenschaft 127(1), 10–96.Google Scholar
Hippel, R. (1908). Vorsatz, Fahrlässigkeit, Irrtum. In Birkemeyer, Karl v. (ed.). Vergleichende Darstellung des Deutschen und Ausländischen Strafrechts, Allgemeiner Teil, III. Berlin: Liebmann.Google Scholar
Hörnle, T. (2016). Guilt and Choice in Criminal Law Theory – A Critical Assessment. Bergen Journal of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, 4(1), 1–24. https://boap.uib.no/index.php/BJCLCJ/article/view/1023/942CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jakobs, G. (1976). Schuld und Prävention. In Series: Recht und Staat in Geschichte und Gegenwart, No. 452/453. Tübingen. J. C. B. Mohr.Google Scholar
Jakobs, G. (1983). Strafrecht, Allgemeiner Teil. Berlin & New York: De Gruyter.Google Scholar
Jescheck, H. H. (1972). Lehrbuch des Strafrechts, Allgemeiner Teil, 2nd ed. Berlin. Duncker und Humblot,Google Scholar
Joecks, W. (2012). Strafgesetzbuch: Studienkommentar. Munich: Beck.Google Scholar
Kind, A. (2015). Persons and Personal Identity. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Kindhäuser, U. (2005). Strafgesetzbuch, Lehr- und Praxiskommentar. Baden-Baden: Nomos.Google Scholar
Kurek, Ł. (2018). The Image of Man in Criminal Law and Cognitive Sciences. In Brożek, B., Kurek, Ł, & Stelmach, J. (eds.), Law and Cognitive Sciences. Warsaw: Wolters Kluwer Polska.Google Scholar
Lewis, D. K. (1986). On the Plurality of Worlds. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Loffler, A. (1895). Die Schuldformen des Strafrecht. Leipzig: Hirschfeld.Google Scholar
Małecki, M. (2019). Przypisanie winy. Podstawy teorii ekskulpantów (The Attribution of Guilt. The Fundaments of Exculpatory Circumstances Theory). Kraków. Krakowski Instytut Prawa Karnego Fundacja (Kraków Institute of Criminal Law Foundation).Google Scholar
Małecki, M., & Zyzik, R. (2014). Poczytalność i wina psychopaty w świetle ewolucyjnych koncepcji genezy psychopatii (Sanity and psychopath’s guilt in light of the evolutionary concepts of the origin of psychopathy). Ruch Prawniczy, Ekonomiczny i Socjologiczny (Journal of Law, Economics and Sociology) 76(3), 161–74. https://pressto.amu.edu.pl/index.php/rpeis/article/view/1799CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marcetus, K. (1928). Der Gedanke der Zumutbarkeit und seine Verwendung in den amtlichen Entwürfen eines Allgemeinen Deutschen Strafgesetzbuches von 1925 und 1927. Breslau: N.p.Google Scholar
Maurach, R. & Zipf, H. (1983). Strafrecht, Allgemeine Teil. Heidelberg: Müller.Google Scholar
McCall, C. (1990). Concepts of Person: An Analysis of Concepts of Person, Self and Human Being. Aldershot and Brookfield: Gower.Google Scholar
McIntosh, C. (ed.) (2013). Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Merkel, G. (2008). Hirnforschung, Sprache und Recht. In Putzke, H. et al. (eds.), Strafrecht zwischen System und Telos, Festschrift für R. D. Herzberg zum 70. Geburtstag. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.Google Scholar
Mohapatra, K. P. (1983). Personal Identity. Cuttack: Santosh Publications.Google Scholar
Noonan, H. W. (2003). Personal Identity. London & New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Olson, E. T. (1997). The Human Animal: Personal Identity without Psychology. New York: Oxford University Press. .Google Scholar
Parfit, D. (1984). Reasons and Persons. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Patryas, W. (1988). Interpretacja karnistyczna. Studium metodologiczne (Criminal Law Interpretation. A Methodological Study). Poznań: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań Press).Google Scholar
Prinz, W. (2003). Der Mensch ist nicht frei. Das Magazin des Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen, 2, 8–20.Google Scholar
Roxin, C. (1974). ‘Schuld’ and ‘Verantwortlichkeit’ als strafrechtliche Systemkategorie. In Jäger, H., Roxin, C., & Burns, H-J. (eds.) Grundfragen der gesamten Strafrechtswissenschaft – Festschrift für Heinrich Henkel zum 70. Geburtstag am 12 September 1973. Berlin & New York: Walter de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Roxin, C. (1979). Zur jüngsten Diskussion über Schuld, Prävention und Verantwortlichkeit im Strafrecht. In Kaufmann, A., Bemmann, G., Krauss, D., & Volk, K. (eds.), Festschrift für Bockelmann. Munich: Beck.Google Scholar
Schaffstein, F. (1933). Die Nichtzumutbarkeit als allgemeiner übergesetzlicher Schuldausschliessungsgrund. Leipzig: Scholl.Google Scholar
Shoemaker, S., & Swinburne, R. (1984). Personal Identity. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Simpson, J., & Weiner, E., eds. (1989). The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Singer, W. (2003). Ein neues Menschenbild? Gespräche über Hirnforschung. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.Google Scholar
Stomma, S. (1947). Fikcja winy (Fiction of Guilt). Państwo i Prawo (The State and The Law), 10, 11–26.Google Scholar
Stühler, H. (1999). Die actio libera in causa de lege lata und de lege ferenda: Eine Analyze von Rechtsprechung und Literatur verbundene mit einem Gesetzgebungsvorschlag. Würzburg: Ergon Verlag.Google Scholar
von Liszt, F., & Schmidt, E. (1922). Lehrbuch des deutschen Strafrechts. Berlin: Berlin Vereinigung Wiss. Verl.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Welzel, H. (1969). Das Deutsche Strafrecht: Eine systematische Darstellung. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Williams, B. (1956/1957). Personal Identity and Individuation. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 57, 229–252.Google Scholar
Zoll, A. (1984). Der Einfluβ der Feuerbachschen Teorie auf die polnische Strafrechtswissenschaft. Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift der Friedrich-Schiller-Universität 4, 507–515.Google Scholar
Zoll, A. (2003). Dyskusja poświęcona art. 9 k.k. (Discussion on the Article 9 of Polish Criminal Code). Czasopismo Prawa Karnego i Nauk Penalnych (Journal of Criminal Law and Penal Studies), 7(1), 84–92. https://czpk.pl/dokumenty/zeszyty/2003/zeszyt1/Dyskusja_nad_prezydenckim_projektem_nowelizacji_Kodeksu_Karnego_-_Dyskusja_w_Krakowie-CZPKiNP_2003-z.1.pdfGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×