Reluctant Pluralist: Moore on Negligence

Legal, Moral, and Metaphysical Truths: The Philosophy of Michael S. Moore (Kimberly Kessler Ferzan and Stephen J. Morse eds., Oxford University Press), 2015, Forthcoming

UC Irvine School of Law Research Paper No. 2015-74

22 Pages Posted: 14 Aug 2015

See all articles by Kenneth W. Simons

Kenneth W. Simons

University of California, Irvine School of Law

Date Written: August 12, 2015

Abstract

Michael Moore has addressed the meaning and desirability of legal liability for negligence on several occasions. His early writings treat negligence as a consequentialist concept and as an appropriate basis for tort but not criminal liability. But in more recent writings, he is more pluralistic, recognizing that nonconsequentialist considerations play a proper role in tort negligence judgments, and tentatively endorsing negligence liability in criminal law as well. The evolution in his views is welcome. At the same time, neither Moore nor other scholars have yet provided a satisfactory account of this protean legal and moral concept. More attention should be paid to the questions whether negligence is a type of wrongdoing, a type of culpability, or both; and whether negligence differs from recklessness in kind or only in degree.

Keywords: negligence/negligent, wrongdoing, culpability/culpable, inadvertence/inadvertent, fault, recklessness/reckless

Suggested Citation

Simons, Kenneth W., Reluctant Pluralist: Moore on Negligence (August 12, 2015). Legal, Moral, and Metaphysical Truths: The Philosophy of Michael S. Moore (Kimberly Kessler Ferzan and Stephen J. Morse eds., Oxford University Press), 2015, Forthcoming, UC Irvine School of Law Research Paper No. 2015-74, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2643100

Kenneth W. Simons (Contact Author)

University of California, Irvine School of Law ( email )

401 E. Peltason Dr.
Room 3800H
Irvine, CA 92697-1000
United States

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