moral culpability
Deserving of blame
Moral culpability is the degree to which someone deserves blame for a wrongful act.
Legal and ethical systems distinguish levels of culpability based on intent, knowledge, and circumstances: killing in self-defense differs from premeditated murder.
The jury had to assess his moral culpability given his diminished mental capacity.
The concept recognizes that not all wrongdoing reflects equally on character.
- mens reaBlameworthy mental state
- guilty mindIntentional criminal awareness
- criminal intentGuilty state of mind
- blameworthinessDeserving moral condemnation
- proportionalityScaling relationship between quantities
just deserts · blood on hands · accountability · guilt · liability · voluntariness · sound mind · negligence · restorative justice · free will · conscience · criminal liability · recklessness · willful ignorance · mitigating circumstances · diminished capacity · determinism · punishment
- retributionretribution, revenge, payback, vengeance, retaliation
- criminal defensesinsanity plea, insanity defense, legal insanity, diminished capacity, mental incapacity
moral culpabilityblamelessness
Freedom from culpability
guiltlessness · faultlessness · moral virtue · clean hands · clear conscience
moral culpabilitymisfortune
Adverse circumstance or event
accident · bad luck · happenstance · circumstance · coincidence
moral culpabilityexculpation
Clearing from fault
exoneration · absolution · accident · bad luck · involuntary action