willful blindness
Choosing not knowing
Willful blindness is the deliberate avoidance of knowledge that would make one legally or morally responsible.
A manager who never asks where the money comes from, a spouse who refuses to open suspicious mail—both maintain plausible deniability by choosing not to know.
In law, willful blindness can establish the same culpability as actual knowledge: The court found willful blindness when the defendant avoided confirming what he already suspected.
Intentionally disregarding something obvious
- looking the other wayDeliberately ignoring wrongdoing
- head in sandDeliberate obliviousness to reality
- ostrichLargest living bird
Refusal to accept reality
- avoidanceDeliberate keeping away
- self-deceptionConvincing yourself of falsehoods
- rationalizationInventing acceptable motives afterward
- cognitive dissonanceDiscomfort from contradictory beliefs
selective attention · confirmation bias · motivated reasoning · compartmentalization · repression · defensiveness · disavowal · evasion
Blameworthy mental state
- culpabilityDeserving blame for wrongdoing
- plausible deniabilityArranged protection from accountability
- recklessnessCareless disregard for danger
- negligenceFailure to exercise care
complicity · misprision · obstruction of justice · accessory · indictment · criminal liability · due diligence · fiduciary duty
Shared criminal involvement
- bystanderOne who observes nearby
- enablingMaking something feasible
- accountabilityObligation for one's actions
- responsibilityState of being answerable
conscience · looking away · see no evil · tacit approval · guilty knowledge · inaction
turning a blind eye
Intentionally disregarding something obvious
- looking the other wayDeliberately ignoring wrongdoing
- head in sandDeliberate obliviousness to reality
- ostrichLargest living bird
denial
Refusal to accept reality
- avoidanceDeliberate keeping away
- self-deceptionConvincing yourself of falsehoods
- rationalizationInventing acceptable motives afterward
cognitive dissonance · selective attention · confirmation bias · motivated reasoning · compartmentalization · repression · defensiveness · disavowal · evasion · minimization
mens rea
Blameworthy mental state
- culpabilityDeserving blame for wrongdoing
- plausible deniabilityArranged protection from accountability
- recklessnessCareless disregard for danger
negligence · complicity · misprision · obstruction of justice · accessory · indictment · criminal liability · due diligence · fiduciary duty · corporate liability
complicity
Shared criminal involvement
- bystanderOne who observes nearby
- enablingMaking something feasible
- accountabilityObligation for one's actions
responsibility · conscience · looking away · see no evil · tacit approval · guilty knowledge · inaction
- blindnessblind spot, low vision, vision loss, sightlessness, visual impairment
- Blindblind date, blind spot, blind faith, blind trust, blind side
- human follyhubris, pride, vanity, greed, arrogance
- criminal lawcrime, felony, misdemeanor, murder, robbery
- self-deceptiondenial, delusion, wishful thinking, rationalization, false belief
- turn a blind eyeignore, overlook, disregard, look away, feign ignorance
willful blindnessbrutal honesty
Unsparing directness in speech
facing facts · eyes wide open · clear-sightedness · acknowledgment · reckoning
willful blindnessdue diligence
Pre-transaction reasonable care
vigilance · intellectual honesty · moral courage · truth-seeking · accountability
blindness, willful, blinds, blinding, blinded, blindly, blindfold, willfully, willfulness